Sharkbaits Cocktail of the Week: Well Travelled

Well, it’s that time of year once again. Maybe I have a mild case of seasonal depression but it seems like this time of year, I start longing to be somewhere else. Maybe it’s because after the holidays, I would prefer to skip straight to spring, and the fact that February is the Tuesday of months, but it’s definitely hitting me again. So I’m doing what I usually do. Crank up the Jimmy Buffett, Pretend I’m seriously researching flights, and having a drink that reminds me of warm weather. This week’s come courtesy of a new addition to the cocktail library I got over Christmas, and it’s a classic: The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock, of the Savoy Hotel in London. It’s one of the first cocktail books ever published, and has some fantastic recipes in there. One of which featured Below is the Pegu Club Cocktail. Invented at the Pegu Club (how fitting) in Burma, because British Imperials have to cocktail when residing in tropical Southeast Asia.

1 Dash Angostura Bitters

1 Dash Orange Bitters

1 Teaspoon Lime juice

1/3 Curacao*

2/3 Dry Gin

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass

* I used Triple sec instead of Curacao since that’s what I had on hand, and they are (barring some slight changes in flavor) fairly interchangeable. Also, to add to the travel vibes, I used the Hawaiian gin I have on hand.

The aroma is very pleasant. Brings the mind to somewhere warm (hooray). The orange bitters/Liqueur combine with the lime to give a nice citrus-y aroma. It almost smells of grapefruit oddly enough. I’m thinking the bitters might be the main culprit there.

The sip itself however is not like that at all. It’s very much a gin forward cocktail, there’s no mistaking that. What stands out is the strength of the gin, not necessarily the herbal flavors you’d expect from a gin based drink. The rest of the citrus based ingredients see to that. Not only do they restrain the “harsher” parts of the gin, but they shine quite well in their own right. The triple sec and orange bitters give a fantastic underlying orange flavor that is prevalent basically throughout the sip. The lime juice isn’t noticeable on the palate, but it’s definitely working behind the scenes. It helps balance out the gin and the dual orange bitters and liqueur. Though the more I have of this, the more I can pick out the lime coming through, ever so slightly at the end. It adds a nice limey, citrus-y zing at the end.

Describing this as a warm weather drink is extremely accurate. I could easily crush a number of these (and let’s be honest, I probably will) sitting outside in the summer. However, I’m happy to report it also works out quite well as a cold weather drink. Especially while listening to music that at least works as a mental escape to somewhere warm.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)