Cocktail for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Folklore claims that during 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his team would win over a visiting English squad. For a competitive edge, he organized a lavish party on the eve of the match, where he served his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These were incredibly substantial four-finger whisky servings, traditionally poured from pinky to forefinger. As expected, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being very the worse for wear and, inevitably, beaten the day after. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi kind-of old fashioned draws inspiration from Singh's concoction. In our establishment, we serve it from a bespoke large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the formula to make it better suited for a domestic environment.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 people.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Instructions
Place all the ingredients in a large bottle. Include 130g water, agitate until fully incorporated, then transfer it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for as long as a few weeks.
When ready to drink, pour about 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a old fashioned glass packed with ice (ideally one big block). Drink straight away. To honour tradition, you could pour it using your fingers as they did.
