Cocktail for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It
Tale suggests that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his team would triumph over a visiting English team. To secure an advantage, he threw a lavish party on the eve of the match, where he presented his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are famously generous four-finger whisky pours, traditionally poured from pinky to forefinger. Predictably, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being very the worse for wear and, inevitably, beaten the following day. And so, the story of the Patiala peg was born.
This inspired spin on the old fashioned draws inspiration from the Maharaja's beverage. Here, we present it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adapted the formula to make it better suited for a home environment.
Patiala Peg
Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Method
Combine everything in a big container. Pour in 130g water, mix until fully incorporated, then place it in the refrigerator. You can store it for as long as three weeks.
When ready to drink, dispense approximately 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a old fashioned glass packed with ice (preferably one big block). Enjoy straight away. To honour tradition, you could measure it in by hand for authenticity.
