Drink This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Folklore suggests that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his cricket team would succeed over a touring English team. For a competitive edge, he hosted a lavish party the night before the match, where he presented his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are notoriously substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, historically measured from pinky to index finger. Predictably, the English players partook excessively, leaving them extremely the worse for wear and, inevitably, vanquished the next day. And so, the myth of the Patiala peg originated.
This Punjabi spin on the old fashioned is inspired by the Maharaja's beverage. In our establishment, we serve it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've modified the formula to make it more suitable for a home environment.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, serving 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Combine everything in a big container. Include 130g water, agitate thoroughly, then place it in the refrigerator. You can store it for about a few weeks.
When ready to drink, measure out about 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass containing ice (preferably one large cube). Serve straight away. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure instead.
