Cocktail This Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Legend has it that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his team would win over a visiting English squad. To gain the upper hand, he hosted a grand party on the eve of the match, where he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are incredibly substantial four-finger measure whisky pours, customarily gauged from little finger to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being extremely hungover and, inevitably, vanquished the next day. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg originated.
This Punjabi kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail draws inspiration from the Maharaja's drink. Here, we serve it from a specially crafted five-litre bottle, but we've adjusted the formula to make it better suited for a household environment.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Method
Combine all the ingredients in a big container. Add 130g water, stir thoroughly, then place it in the refrigerator. You can store it for about three weeks.
For serving, pour about 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass containing ice (ideally one large cube). Serve straight away. If you're feeling traditional, you could measure it in by hand for authenticity.
