Cocktail for This Week: The Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Folklore has it that during 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his team would succeed over a visiting English squad. For a competitive edge, he organized a splendid party on the eve of the match, where he offered his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These were notoriously generous four-finger whisky pours, traditionally poured from pinky to forefinger. Predictably, the English players drank too much, leaving them very hungover and, inevitably, beaten the following day. Thus, the legend of the Patiala peg came to be.
This inspired variation of old fashioned draws inspiration from the Maharaja's beverage. In our establishment, we offer it from a specially crafted five-litre bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it better suited for a household setting.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.
You Will Need
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Method
Put all the ingredients in a big container. Pour in 130g water, mix thoroughly, then transfer it in the fridge. You can store it for as long as 21 days.
When ready to drink, measure out roughly 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a old fashioned glass packed with ice (traditionally one large cube). Drink promptly. For a traditional touch, you could measure it in by hand as they did.
