Cocktail This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It
Legend suggests that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his team would succeed over a touring English team. To gain the upper hand, he hosted a grand party the night before the match, at which he offered his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are notoriously substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, customarily gauged from pinky to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players overindulged, leaving them very hungover and, inevitably, beaten the following day. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg was born.
This Punjabi spin on the Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from the Maharaja's concoction. Here, we present it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've modified the recipe to make it more suitable for a home kitchen.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Makes 1 litre, serving 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Method
Place all the ingredients in a big container. Add 130g water, agitate to combine, then transfer it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for about a few weeks.
To serve, pour approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass packed with ice (traditionally one big block). Serve straight away. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.