Club Case
Member of the Club
“I don’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.” – Groucho Marx
It’s getting clubby here at Boxes and Booze this week as we continue the card suit case series from Juno with the Club Case, his second in the series. This follow up to the Diamond Case, which is a slim and unassuming looking little box, is much more substantial. It features Karri, Koto, and Zebrano wood crafted into a sturdy square box. The base and lid contrast in color nicely and in the center of the lid piece is a club shaped window which affords a view into a strange mechanism. These are the key pieces, made from Burmese Teak. Juno had the initial idea of allowing a little view of these rectangular pieces, but it was too basic for him. He disconnected the pieces on opposite sides and turned the mechanism in an unexpected way. It becomes clear what must be done once the box is explored but it is a clever surprise, and knowing what must be done does not make it easier.
Club Case by Juno
Juno does not really like the idea of a “black box” where all the mechanism and puzzling is hidden. He prefers to give access to little views and hints, but still make the puzzle very challenging somehow, nonetheless. He succeeds very well with the Club Case, with a wonderful mechanism which is familiar but newly implemented, and very challenging. As with many of his boxes, the motions are quite dynamic and the box behaves in a novel way. Juno went through many ideas and iterations for the final mechanism, as each little adjustment had big effects on everything else. In addition to the main trick, he wanted to ensure stability, durability, and he wanted it to be a decent challenge. Much of the final work was then done on his CNC router, ensuring a fine precision and professional look and feel. The Club Case does not disappoint, and set the bar high for the next two boxes in the series. Juno made sure that everyone would want to be a member at his club.
A glimpse inside the Club - do you know the password?
There have been countless “Club” cocktails as well through the ages, each a reflection in some way of the establishment where they began as the “house cocktail”. Let’s select one with which to toast the Club Case – perhaps, the Pegu Club? This is a drink I’ve been meaning to feature for some time, and now have the perfect opportunity. The Pegu Club was a Gentlemen’s Club for British Officers and civilians built in 1880 in the city of Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar). Like all classic British Officer’s cocktails, the club’s signature drink featured gin (preferably “Navy Strength”) and a healthy dose of citrus. It was meant to be light and refreshing, perfect for a hot day in a tropical country.
Pegu Club c. 1882
Thanks to the popularity of the club, known as one of the finest in Southeast Asia at the turn of the twentieth century, the Pegu Club cocktail was known far and wide around the world. Its popularity had a resurgence, along with the craft cocktail movement, in 2005, when Audrey Saunders opened her famed bar of the same name in New York City. This was a defining moment in modern cocktail culture, when classics were relatively unknown (and thus “new”) and when mixing drinks was becoming a culinary art once again. Saunder’s mentor, the famed “King Cocktail” himself Dale DeGroff, actually coined the term “mixology” from his perch at the Rainbow Room. People came to Saunder’s Pegu Club to drink, but also to learn. It became an epicenter of the new cocktail culture. If you want a taste of the Golden Age of cocktails with seamless transition to the modern day, order or make yourself a Pegu Club. Cheers!
Classically refreshing
Pegu Club c. 1882
2 oz London dry gin
¾ oz Dry Curacao (Saunders: 1 oz Cointreau)
¾ oz fresh lime (Saunders: ½ oz)
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash orange bitters
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a favorite glass. Lime peel garnish.
This pair is rather clubby
For the prior Card Suit Cases from Juno see: