Cocktail. Served at I Still Call It Burma (#2 and #3), Daun Pisang (#4) and Mekong (#5 and #6).

Pegu Club

Gin, orange curaçao, lime, bitters

This was the house cocktail of the Pegu Club in Rangoon in the 1920s, named for the Bago River. Gin, orange curaçao, fresh lime, and both Angostura and orange bitters.

The recipe includes shaken and bottled versions. The bottled version includes water to account for the dilution from shaking with ice.

Makes
About 12 drinks shaken, or one 64 oz bottle, about 14–15 drinks
Do ahead
Batch everything but the lime ahead. Lime the hour before.

Ingredients

Scale

Shaken

  • 24 ozgin (London Dry, Beefeater or Tanqueray)
  • 9 ozorange curaçao (or Cointreau / triple sec)
  • 9 ozfresh lime juice, day-of
  • 6 ozsimple syrup (optional, for a softer drink)
  • 12 dashesAngostura bitters
  • 12 dashesorange bitters
  • lime wheels, to garnish

Bottled

  • 29 ozgin
  • 11 ozCointreau
  • 11 ozfresh lime juice
  • 13 ozcold water, for dilution
  • ~30 dashesAngostura bitters
  • ~15 dashesorange bitters

Method

  1. Shaken version: stir the gin, curaçao, simple syrup, and both bitters together. Refrigerate.
  2. Shaken version: add the lime juice the hour before you pour.
  3. Shaken version: shake individual portions with ice and strain into chilled coupes. Garnish with a lime wheel.
  4. Bottled version: batch the gin, Cointreau, and both bitters in a 64 oz bottle ahead of time. Do not add the water yet.
  5. Bottled version: on the day, add the 11 oz lime juice and invert to mix, then add the 13 oz cold water and invert again. Lime first, so the bottle has room to mix.
  6. Bottled version: pour straight from the bottle.

Notes

  • Lime oxidizes overnight, so it goes in the day of, never ahead.