pegu pilot

2 oz London Dry Gin (Beefeater)
1/2 oz Rhum Agricole Blanc (Rhum Clement Premiere Canne)
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Falernum
1/2 oz Lime Juice
2 dash Angostura Bitters
6 drop Absinthe (St. George)

Whip shake, pour into a Tiki mug, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with a mint sprig.

On my walk home from work late Sunday night two weeks ago, I began thinking about the Test Pilot and considered the overlapping lime, Cointreau, and Angostura ingredients with the Pegu Club. So for my evening's refreshment, I experimented with a gin-driven Test Pilot and wanted to know how it would compare to the Pegu Club given the falernum and absinthe in the mix. Furthermore, I included a bit of grassy rhum agricole to push the mix into a more tropical direction along with help from the additional ingredients. In the Tiki mug, this hybrid that I dubbed the Pegu Pilot shared orange, clove, and pine aromas like a Pegu Club that was accented by the notes from the mint garnish. Next, lime and orange on the sip slid into the beautiful grapefruit flavors conjured by gin, orange liqueur, lime, and bitters on the swallow along with grassy accents from the rhum. Overall, it was a softer, more tropical Pegu Club that lay somewhere between the two classics.