Cocktail This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Legend suggests that during 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his team would succeed over a visiting English side. To secure an advantage, he organized a lavish party the night before the match, at which he presented his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are notoriously substantial four-finger measure whisky pours, customarily poured from little finger to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being terribly hungover and, inevitably, defeated the next day. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg was born.
This Punjabi kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail draws inspiration from Singh's beverage. In our establishment, we present it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it more suitable for a home setting.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Produces 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.
You Will Need
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Combine everything in a big container. Add 130g water, mix to combine, then transfer it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for up to a few weeks.
To serve, dispense approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a old fashioned glass filled with ice (preferably one big block). Serve immediately. If you're feeling traditional, you could pour it using your fingers instead.
