The Pegu Club Cocktail, cont’d: Double, Double, Toil & Trouble

So I took the Pegu for a test drive at work the other night. No one there had ever heard of it. It’s amazing that an old classic drink like this doesn’t have more of a following, especially now that the Pegu Club has opened up here in NYC during the Cocktail Insurgence. It’s perfect for hot muggy days.

Alas, we don’t carry orange bitters, only Angostura. The bitters revival hasn’t reached all that many places yet; I’ll have to find some on my own (can’t wait to taste the difference). So I made one with Bombay Sapphire and two dashes of the Angostura and it was still terrific. Proudly, I turned to my curious partners and offered them each a sip, hoping to have found others who would spread the word. Crockett declined, saying she doesn’t like gin; too bitter. I think she’d seen me put in the Angostura and just decided Hey, this ain’t gonna happen. So I turned to Lefty and he said sure. He loved it (wise bloody man) and, as an alternative to some of our “permanent specials”, he was definitely going to suggest it to our regulars who had come by on a very hot and muggy evening.

Unfortunately, I had put it down right by his fruit tray just as three women walked up to him to order a round. These ladies were the classic bartender’s nightmare. They had no idea what they wanted, thought they were the only customers in the place, and insisted on having everything (and I mean everything) on and around the bar explained to them in detail. It was like they’d never been out of the house before. And then what happened? They saw the Pegu sitting right in front of them, waving at them merrily. “What’s that?” one asked, and it just went all to hell from there. The three witches from Macbeth were suddenly controlling our destinies.

Of course they want to try it. Lefty is a very accommodating guy, so he makes one for them to taste and starts to move on to the next customer while they make up their minds. Of course The Weird Sisters won’t let him go and immediately call him back. “Can you add a little of this?” Okay, he says. He really is a nice guy and gives very good service.

I’m sure you’ve already figured out the whole story by now. Lay on, MacDuff:

“I’d like it with some of this?” asks the First Witch.

“I’d like another, but with less of that,” says the Second Witch.

“Two less cubes, I” says the Third.

All. “Fair is fowl and fowl is fair
Don’t let the barman come up for air.”

Of course each lady has her own problem with the drink, and of course each then doesn’t like her own suggestion but blames Lefty for it even though he’d made it exactly the way she’d asked for it. Lefty is making drink after drink trying to please the Weird Sisters and pretty soon he’s ready to tear his hair out. Of course, I love it all until I realize the guests are starting to stack up behind them and I’m going to have to pick up the slack. Of course the ladies move away, clucking happily over their drinks (Lefty is really good; he never let on what he was thinking). Of course they left him a buck.

So now Lefty hates the Pegu and considers it the most feared drink in the manual, The Cocktail Not Of Woman Born. I’ll have to popularize it on my own.

Crockett, who didn’t want us to make the damned thing in the first place, laughed her ass off.