COCKTAILS: 16 DECEMBER 2016

A perfect hot-weather refreshner

As an aging, former judge of these delicious concoctions I must admit to a definite soft spot for cocktails — and to a desire to publish recipes on a regular basis.

I’d like to include as many as possible of local origin, but I know that’s not always going to be possible in a small community, so I’ll start with a famous one from The Strand Yangon in the Myanmar capital.

The Pegu Club cocktail is steeped in British colonial-era history and is a particularly popular choice in the hotel’s Sarkie’s Bar.

First mixed in the early 1900s, the drink was well known among British soldiers in old Burma and is a perfect hot-weather refreshner comprised of gin, Cointreau, lime and bitters.

The bar staff at The Strand Yangon add orange juice to give it a more balanced flavour.

Take 45ml gin, 15ml dry orange curacao, 20ml fresh lime juice, a slice of orange, 2 dashes of bitters and 10ml sugar syrup.

Shake all the ingredients with ice and double strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with slice of lime.