Drink This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Legend claims that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his cricket team would succeed over a visiting English side. To gain the upper hand, he threw a lavish party the night before the match, where he served his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are notoriously substantial four-finger whisky servings, customarily gauged from pinky to index finger. Predictably, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being extremely the worse for wear and, inevitably, vanquished the following day. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg was born.
This Punjabi kind-of old fashioned draws inspiration from that original concoction. In our establishment, we present it from a bespoke large-format bottle, but we've adapted the formula to make it better suited for a domestic setting.
Patiala Peg
Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 drinks.
You Will Need
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Preparation
Put everything in a sizeable jug. Add 130g water, stir thoroughly, then put it in the fridge. It can be stored for as long as 21 days.
For serving, pour about 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a short glass filled with ice (traditionally one large cube). Serve straight away. To honour tradition, you could pour it using your fingers instead.
