Drink This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Tale has it that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his team would triumph over a touring English team. For a competitive edge, he organized a splendid party on the eve of the match, where he served his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are notoriously substantial four-finger whisky pours, traditionally measured from pinky to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players drank too much, leaving them terribly hungover and, inevitably, defeated the following day. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg was born.
This Punjabi variation of old fashioned takes its cue from Singh's concoction. In our establishment, we serve it from a specially crafted five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the instructions to make it better suited for a household setting.
Patiala Peg
Produces 1 litre, serving 10-12 portions.
What's Required
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Method
Put everything in a large bottle. Add 130g water, mix until fully incorporated, then place it in the fridge. It will now keep for as long as a few weeks.
To serve, measure out about 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass filled with ice (traditionally one large cube). Drink promptly. To honour tradition, you could measure it in by hand as they did.