Cocktail for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Tale suggests that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his cricket team would succeed over a touring English team. To gain the upper hand, he threw a grand party the night before the match, where he served his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are notoriously substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, customarily measured from little finger to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players partook excessively, leaving them very hungover and, consequently, beaten the day after. And so, the story of the Patiala peg originated.
This Punjabi spin on the old fashioned is inspired by Singh's concoction. Here, we present it from a bespoke large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the instructions to make it more suitable for a home setting.
Patiala Peg
Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Method
Place all the ingredients in a sizeable jug. Add 130g water, mix until fully incorporated, then transfer it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for about a few weeks.
When ready to drink, pour approximately 90ml of the infused whisky into a rocks glass filled with ice (traditionally one big block). Serve immediately. If you're feeling traditional, you could pour it using your fingers as they did.
