Part of the club
One of the highlights of my trip to Berlin last month was the chance to try so many great new cocktails I hadn’t gotten around to drinking previously. Whether it was a classic drink like the Seelbach, or a new creation like the Gin – Red Basil Smash, I came away with many more drinks on my “to-do” list.
The following cocktail is one I took a sip of whilst in Victoria Bar that I immediately made a mental note to follow up when I got back home. Another creation by Gonçalo de Sousa Monteiro the Juniper Club Cocktail is a variation on the Pegu Club, slightly adjusting my preferred 3:1:1 ratio and replacing the Angostura aromatic bitters with a full bar-spoon worth of Peychaud’s. Reading the recipe alone I might have dismissed such a large use of bitters, but thankfully I tasted the drink before I had the chance to pass it by.
Juniper Club Cocktail
- 1½ shots / 45 ml / 1½ oz dry gin
- ½ shot / 15 ml / ½ oz lime juice
- ⅓ shot / 10 ml / ⅓ oz Cointreau
- 1 bar-spoon Peychaud’s bitters
- ½ bar-spoon sugar syrup
- Shake all ingredients with ice and fine-strain in to a cocktail glass. Garnish with a wedge of lime.
The drink has the same basic backbone of a good Pegu Club, with the gin, Cointreau and lime working together in perfect harmony to create a lovely balance of sweet and sour. With the Peychaud’s though, an interesting complexity is created, with an intricate finish that almost fights against the rest of the drink yet somehow ends up working. As the eagled-eyed amongst you may have noticed, and as Gonçalo notes, the Juniper Club is also similar to another classic drink, the Pendennis Club…
Pendennis Club Cocktail
- 1½ shots / 45 ml / 1½ oz dry gin
- ½ shot / 15 ml / ½ oz lime juice
- ⅓ shot / 10 ml / ⅓ oz apricot brandy
- 1 bar-spoon Peychaud’s bitters
- ½ bar-spoon sugar syrup
- Shake all ingredients with ice and fine-strain in to a cocktail glass. Garnish with a wedge of lime.
The Pendennis takes the skirmish of flavours that the Juniper Club offers, and antagonises it in to full-scale war. The apricot, lime, gin and bitters all battle for attention on the tongue, yet while they don’t exactly complement neither do they result in an unpleasant drink. It’s a heady combination of flavours, but one that is rewarding if you give it a chance. Not a cocktail I would reach for at every opportunity, but certainly one I can enjoy when I’m in the mood for something complex that will wake my taste buds up.
Posted in Apricot Brandy, Aromatic Bitters, Curaçao & Triple Sec, Gin, Recipes
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October 18th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Mmmmm… whenever I’m in a rut when it comes to cocktails, I make a Pendennis. It’s such a unique combination of flavors and come together to create a new experience. Glad you think the same.
I’ll have to try the Juniper Club Cocktail. Cheers Jay!
October 18th, 2008 at 2:51 am
I’ll have to give those a try… If you liked the “smash” herb cocktails, I’ve done three:
Ten Thyme and Raspberry Thyme Smashes:
http://wine-by-benito.blogspot.com/2008/07/cocktail-week-at-bwr.html
Basil Grape Refresher:
http://wine-by-benito.blogspot.com/2008/08/housewarming-for-grace.html
My only complaint with these kind of cocktails is that they taste so much better when someone else makes them for you!
October 18th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Wow, what an excellent website. I’m new to the cocktail thing, my interest having been sparked off by a few visits last year to the Pegu Club in NYC and then Little Branch and PDT. I’ve since gone out and got some books (Imbibe, Joy of Mixology and Art of the Cocktail)but due to lack of time have been unable to “experiment” as much as I would like!
I love the layout of this site, allowing me to browse by ingredients and your writing is super.
All I’ve got to do now is stock up my cocktail cabinet and get shaking! Thanks again!
October 19th, 2008 at 3:52 am
These i haven`t tried, they look dangerously tasty…
Cheers!
Ti
October 19th, 2008 at 4:49 am
My pleasure on your writing and the kind words, Sir.
A short note on the Pendennis, which I tried over more than a year whithout finding the right balance. Beside of various ratios and different Gin, the final choice on the Apricot Brandy was the last crucial step. The elegant Abricot du Rossilon seemed to subtle to opose all other flavours.
Coincidently, the rough Apry from Marie Brizard suprised, as the almost astringent almond flavours helped the mixture with further depth.
Enjoy, G.
October 19th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I’ve definitely enjoyed the Pendennis with Marie Brizard Apry as well. What do you use Jay?
October 20th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Rhys – Visits to The Pegu Club, PDT and Little Branch are certainly a great way to start out in the world of cocktails. I wish my own introduction was as illustrious. Glad you like the site, hope you continue to read and explore the world of cocktails.
Gonçalo, Rick – The pleasure was definitely mine, Sir! I was using Abricot du Rossilon, which I generally prefer over Brizard Apry. I’m out of the Brizard at the moment, but I will definitely have to give the Pendennis a go with it.
October 20th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Hi! You take great and vivid picture!
January 27th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
[...] my good buddy, Weblog Award Nominee™ Jay at Oh Gosh!, managed to put up a post about not one, but two Pegu variants back in October, and I missed it until now. Image stolen from Oh [...]