Cocktail of the Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Tale has it that during 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was set that his cricket team would win over a visiting English team. To gain the upper hand, he hosted a grand party on the eve of the match, at which he served his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These were incredibly generous four-finger whisky servings, customarily gauged from little finger to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players partook excessively, leaving them very the worse for wear and, inevitably, defeated the day after. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg originated.
This Punjabi kind-of old fashioned draws inspiration from Singh's drink. Here, we offer it from a bespoke large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it easier for a household kitchen.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Produces 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup (1:1)
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Combine all the ingredients in a sizeable jug. Pour in 130g water, agitate until fully incorporated, then put it in the fridge. It can be stored for as long as 21 days.
For serving, measure out approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass filled with ice (traditionally one large cube). Drink straight away. If you're feeling traditional, you could measure it in by hand instead.
