Pegu Club Cocktail
A citrus and sour gin cocktail ∙ Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 21.9% ABV ∙
The Pegu Club Cocktail is a shaken gin sour with orange curaçao, lime juice, lime cordial and Angostura, named for a colonial club near Rangoon.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: London dry gin 45 mlOrange curaçao liqueur 10 mlLime juice 10 mlLime cordial 5 mlSugar syrup 5 mlAngostura aromatic bitters 1 dashOrange bitters 1 dash (opt.)
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Garnish with a lime wedge
Tips
- Pick a London dry gin with plenty of juniper, or the curaçao and lime cordial will bury it.
History
The Pegu Club cocktail takes its name from the Pegu Club, a social club established in the 1880s just outside Rangoon, Burma, whose members were largely British government officials, military officers, and businessmen; the club itself was named after the nearby Pegu River. The gin, orange curaçao, and lime drink became the club's signature cocktail, said to have been served to its members as a restorative in the tropical heat.
The recipe first appeared in print in the early 1920s in "Harry" of Ciro's book ABC of Mixing Cocktails, which called for preserved Rose's lime cordial rather than fresh lime juice. It gained wider fame after Harry Craddock included it in The Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930, praising it as a favorite that had traveled and was requested around the world. Later books, including Craddock's, dropped the "Rose's" brand name when listing the lime juice, leaving later bartenders uncertain when fresh lime juice began replacing the cordial. No individual bartender is credited as its inventor.
The drink faded from use after Burma's independence in 1948 until bartender Audrey Saunders revived it as the namesake and signature pour of her New York City bar Pegu Club. The bar opened in 2005 and became an influential force in the American craft-cocktail revival before closing in 2020.
FAQ
What is a Pegu Club cocktail?
A shaken gin sour of London dry gin, orange curaçao, fresh lime juice and lime cordial, with a little sugar syrup and a dash of Angostura. It is named for the Pegu Club, a British social club near Rangoon, Burma.
How do you make a Pegu Club?
Shake the gin, orange curaçao, lime juice, lime cordial, sugar syrup, Angostura and the optional orange bitters hard with ice, then fine-strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a lime wedge.
How does the Pegu Club compare to a gin sour?
The Pegu Club Cocktail is a gin sour sweetened largely by orange curaçao and lime cordial rather than plain sugar. A dash of Angostura (and optional orange bitters) gives it a dry, spiced edge. A standard gin sour is just gin, citrus and sugar.
