Drink for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It
Tale suggests that during 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was set that his team would win over a visiting English team. To secure an advantage, he hosted a lavish party the night before the match, where he presented his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are famously substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, historically measured from pinky to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being terribly the worse for wear and, consequently, defeated the next day. And so, the myth of the Patiala peg was born.
This inspired kind-of old fashioned takes its cue from Singh's beverage. Here, we offer it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it more suitable for a household setting.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, enough for 10-12 portions.
What's Required
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Method
Put all the ingredients in a large bottle. Add 130g water, stir to combine, then put it in the fridge. It can be stored for as long as three weeks.
To serve, dispense roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a rocks glass packed with ice (preferably one large cube). Drink immediately. For a traditional touch, you could measure it in by hand instead.
