Cocktail for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Tale claims that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his cricket team would win over a visiting English team. For a competitive edge, he threw a grand party on the eve of the match, where he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These were incredibly substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, customarily measured from pinky to forefinger. Predictably, the English players partook excessively, leaving them terribly hungover and, inevitably, vanquished the following day. Thus, the myth of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi variation of old fashioned draws inspiration from the Maharaja's concoction. Here, we serve it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it more suitable for a home setting.
Patiala Peg
Produces 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Method
Place all the ingredients in a big container. Pour in 130g water, agitate thoroughly, then place it in the refrigerator. You can store it for up to a few weeks.
For serving, pour about 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a old fashioned glass containing ice (traditionally one large cube). Drink immediately. If you're feeling traditional, you could measure it in by hand as they did.
