Name: Pegu Club Cocktail (Difford's recipe)
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Gin; 10 ml Orange Curaçao; 5 ml Lime juice; 5 ml Lime cordial; 5 ml Sugar syrup (2:1); 7.5 ml Chilled water; 1 dash Aromatic bitters; 1 dash Orange bitters

Pegu Club Cocktail (Difford's recipe)
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Pegu Club Cocktail (Difford's recipe) image

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
¹⁄₃ oz	Orange Curaçao liqueur
¹⁄₆ oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₆ oz	Lime cordial (sweetened lime juice)
¹⁄₆ oz	Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
¹⁄₄ oz	Chilled water
1 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters
1 dash	Orange Bitters by Angostura

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of coin-sized lime zest twist (expressed & discarded). Garnish with a lime wedge on rim.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Pegu Club Cocktail (Difford's recipe) lifestyle image

Review:

Whatever you think of modern-day Rose's Lime Cordial (other brands are available as well as homemade recipes), as with the Gimlet, I believe lime cordial is an essential part of this cocktail's DNA so should be included. Also, in keeping with the Gimlet, I like to use fresh lime juice to add fresh citrus zing alongside the 'cooked' notes of the cordial.

The other moving part of a Pegu Club is the orange curaçao liqueur. A dry 40 alc./vol. versus a very sweet 20-27% orange curaçao will impact the overall alcohol and sugar content very differently. I use a dry 40% curaçao so this dictates the need to balance with a smidgen of sugar syrup.

Strike the perfect balance and a Pegu Club is citrusy, bracing, and refreshing with the gin base providing the backbone while rich zesty orange curaçao, accentuated by tart lime, drives the flavour.

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History:

Created in the 1920s at the Pegu Club, an ex-pat gentlemen's club in British colonial Rangoon, Burma.

The Pegu Club first appears in Harry McElhone's 1923 "Harry" of Ciro's ABC of Mixing Cocktails and notably in Harry Craddock's seminal 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book where he notes, "The favourite cocktail at the Pegu Club, Burma, and one that has travelled, and is asked for, round the world."

Despite The Savoy's influence, it's the recipe published just months before Craddock's, in Cocktails by Jimmy Late Of Ciro's London, written by the mysterious "Jimmy" (like McElhone another bartender who worked at Ciro's in London), which calls for fresh lime rather than cordial that's nearer to most other modern-day interpretations of this venerable classic. [Mine respects the use of lime cordial so is perhaps a tad more authentic!]

Pegu Club Cocktail.
1 dash Angostura Bitters,
1 dash of Orange Bitters,
1 teaspoon Lime Juice (Rose's),
1/6 Curaçao (Orange),
2/3 Gin.
Harry McElhone, 1923

PEGU CLUB
4 parts Dry Gin
1 part Curacao
1 part Lime juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters per cocktail
1 dash Orange Bitters per cocktail.
Cocktails by Jimmy Late Of Ciro's London, 1930

PEGU CLUB COCKTAIL.
1 Dash Angostura Bitters.
1 Dash Orange Bitters.
1 Teaspoonful Lime Juice
1/3 Curaçao. 2/3 Dry Gin.
Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.
The favourite cocktail at the Pegu Club, Burma, and one that has travelled, and is asked for, round the world.
Harry Craddock, 1930

Nutrition:

One serving of Pegu Club Cocktail (Difford's recipe) contains 151 calories

Alcohol content:

1.2 standard drinks
21.44% alc./vol. (21.44° proof)
16.7 grams of pure alcohol

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Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 10 comments for Pegu Club Cocktail (Difford's recipe).
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Chris Brislawn

1st April at 05:20

I like Difford's old-timey idea of using both lime juice and cordial, but his recipe looks pretty darn sweet. I followed Jimmy's 4:1 ratio of gin:lime juice and cut back on the curacao (used a tad less than the lime juice) to accommodate an equal amount of cordial (sans sugar syrup), plus a couple lime twists in the shaker. This gave a touch of tartness to the drink and seemed about right for a sweltering, un-airconditioned afternoon at the Club in old Rangoon. And my cordial was homemade lemon-lime-kumquat, which made things interesting.

Chris Dimal

25th June 2023 at 11:07

Very pleasant drink with wonderful zesty and citrus laden notes permeating throughout. Somewhat sacrilegious that I didn't have orange bitters, instead I did a regal shake with some mandarin twists instead. Probably not the identical or same, but it was very nice as an aperitif on a hot summer day.

Nathalie O'Flynn

27th May 2023 at 13:29

I made this today, not for the first time, but I used the recipe from my little book so not sure where I got the recipe from, thought it was from here, I had 15ml of sugar syrup and yeah it was too sweet. I’ll stick to the recipe from here lol

Mike Lenoir

11th March 2023 at 00:33

I often choose cocktails based on their make-ability. I came across this one at a pub called "The Library" in a local B&B because I had all of the ingredients at home. Delightful! I use our local sake-like WonderBird Gin with the Orang Curacao. Perfect!

Keith Jones

24th October 2022 at 05:54

I didn’t have lime cordial so used home made Falernum . Also used my home made orange curaçao. Lovely.

Andy Parnell-Hopkinson

7th May 2022 at 16:53

Perennial favourite. My go-to with Asian food.

Florian Ruf

31st October 2021 at 21:07

In my opinion a little bit of dilution improves the drink.

Sion Edwards

12th September 2021 at 15:34

If using Cointreau or Grand Marnier instead of dry curaçao - do you need to omit the sugar syrup? How do they differ in sweetness?

Simon Difford

13th September 2021 at 07:50

Cointreau has 223g/l sugar. Grand Marnier 214g/l (older bots 220-230g/l. I estimate Dry Curacao is approx 190g/l. So the difference in sugar on just 20ml is so small that the sourness of your limes will play a greater role in the balance of this cocktail.

Matthew Tinnelly

10th August 2021 at 08:50

I think this would be worth trying with Jeffrey Morgenthaller’s lime cordial recipe instead of juice.

Simon Difford

10th August 2021 at 09:16

Great shout. I'll try.

G. M. Genovese

15th April 2021 at 21:30

These ratios here make the best version I've had. The 8:3:2 ratio which I'd settled on was just ok, despite all the brand substitutions I'd tried... Tonight, I used Barr Hill Gin (floral, honey notes), PF Dry Curacao, and Angostura standard and orange bitters, as well as a tsp of demerara syrup (too tired to make 2:1 cane right now, maybe tomorrow)... I destroyed this in a few sips. Lovely!