Drink This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It
Folklore suggests that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his team would succeed over a touring English team. To secure an advantage, he organized a splendid party on the eve of the match, at which he served his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These were famously substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, traditionally poured from little finger to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being very hungover and, consequently, beaten the day after. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from the Maharaja's beverage. Here, we offer it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've modified the formula to make it better suited for a domestic kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Yields 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.
What's Required
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Put all the ingredients in a big container. Pour in 130g water, mix thoroughly, then put it in the fridge. It will now keep for up to a few weeks.
To serve, pour roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a old fashioned glass packed with ice (ideally one large cube). Enjoy straight away. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.
