If you read any number of cocktail blogs regularly, you will note that I am one of the few such bloggers who is not currently pickling him or herself in New Orleans right now. Fear not, intrepid reader, I’ll just have to put up enough content to take up the slack until they sober up (Check back in October). I’ve been in a new drink funk for a while, so I’m touring Talesbloggers’ houses while they are out, and stealing their drinks. In the interests of sending you to their blogs, I’ll leave out one critical item from recipes I repost here….

Today, I tip the hat to Erik Flannestad, a man with perhaps the most fervently adhered to blog concept out there: Stomping Through the Savoy. Erik’s blog, Underhill-Lounge, is almost exclusively a series of posts detailing his exercise of making every cocktail, in alphabetical order, to be found in the seminal Savoy Cocktail Book.

On Thursday, July 9th, Erik reached the apex of cocktail civilization, right there in the heart of the Ps: The Pegu.
First off, he dutifully tipped the hat to this humble repository of wisdom, as he should. I will say he may have revealed he doesn’t read my stuff as much as all good men and true ought…

…I should point out that Doug, over at The Pegu Blog, writes pretty much about nothing other than Pegu Club Cocktails.

I guess I’ll just have to start emailing him directly all my posts about Space Bartenders and Bar Appliances…. (I kid, Erik)

No he doesn’t!

Shut up.
Anyway, Erik runs down the various recipes out there in print, especially those contemporary with or before the Savoy, then diddles with them a bit on his own. The chief problem I have with virtually all of them is the use of orange bitters, but Erik also seems to realize this historical truth doesn’t make for the best drinking experience, so on we go. The Cocktails by Jimmy version he relates is the closest to my favorite version, but as you’ll see should you click on the recipes tab atop this repository of knowledge, I like a lower ratio.
The version Erik gives that I’m pseudo-scraping here is his Gimlet-ized version, which I shall try as soon as I next buy Rose’s Lime Juice. Since the key ingredient is given away by the name, I’ll encourage you to read Erik’s post by omitting the amounts.

As I said, I’ve not tried this yet, but I will. My experience with what happens when any bartender serves me a Pegu made with Rose’s tells me to have some reservations. Nonetheless, Erik notes some toying with ratios that might save this. He notes that it ain’t bad, and I am compelled to recognize that he does kinds know what he’s talking about….