Drink for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Tale suggests that during 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his team would win over a touring English side. To gain the upper hand, he threw a lavish party on the eve of the match, where he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These were incredibly substantial four-finger whisky pours, traditionally poured from little finger to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being terribly hungover and, inevitably, beaten the day after. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.
This take on a kind-of old fashioned draws inspiration from Singh's concoction. At the restaurant, we serve it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've adapted the formula to make it more suitable for a household environment.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Produces 1 litre, enough for 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Put all the ingredients in a big container. Include 130g water, stir to combine, then put it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for about a few weeks.
For serving, pour about 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a short glass packed with ice (preferably one large cube). Serve promptly. If you're feeling traditional, you could measure it in by hand instead.
