Cocktail This Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Folklore suggests that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his cricket team would succeed over a touring English team. For a competitive edge, he organized a grand party on the eve of the match, at which he presented his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These were famously generous four-finger whisky servings, customarily measured from pinky to forefinger. As expected, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being extremely hungover and, consequently, beaten the day after. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi variation of old fashioned is inspired by Singh's drink. In our establishment, we serve it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adapted the formula to make it more suitable for a household setting.
Patiala Peg
Yields 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.
What's Required
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Put everything in a sizeable jug. Include 130g water, mix thoroughly, then put it in the fridge. It can be stored for about three weeks.
For serving, measure out approximately 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a old fashioned glass packed with ice (preferably one large cube). Drink straight away. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure for authenticity.
