Drink This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Legend suggests that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would win over a visiting English squad. To gain the upper hand, he organized a splendid party on the eve of the match, where he offered his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These were incredibly large four-finger whisky servings, customarily poured from pinky to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being very hungover and, consequently, defeated the following day. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg originated.
This Punjabi spin on the 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 more suitable for a domestic kitchen.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Yields 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Combine all the ingredients in a large bottle. Pour in 130g water, mix until fully incorporated, then put it in the fridge. You can store it for as long as 21 days.
When ready to drink, dispense approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a short glass containing ice (preferably one large cube). Enjoy immediately. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.
