Drink This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It
Tale has it that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his team would succeed over a touring English team. For a competitive edge, he threw a splendid party on the eve of the match, at which he presented his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These were notoriously substantial four-finger whisky pours, customarily measured from pinky to index finger. Predictably, the English players partook excessively, leaving them terribly hungover and, inevitably, defeated the day after. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi kind-of old fashioned draws inspiration from Singh's drink. In our establishment, we present it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've modified the formula to make it better suited for a domestic kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 people.
You Will Need
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Combine everything in a sizeable jug. Include 130g water, agitate to combine, then transfer it in the refrigerator. You can store it for about three weeks.
For serving, measure out about 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a old fashioned glass filled with ice (traditionally one large cube). Drink immediately. To honour tradition, you could measure it in by hand instead.
