Drink for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It
Folklore claims that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was set that his cricket team would win over a touring English team. To secure an advantage, he organized a splendid party on the eve of the match, at which he served his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are famously substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, traditionally measured from little finger to index finger. As expected, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being terribly the worse for wear and, consequently, defeated the following day. And so, the myth of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi kind-of old fashioned draws inspiration from that original concoction. Here, we offer it from a specially crafted five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it better suited for a home kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.
You Will Need
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup (1:1)
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Method
Put everything in a large bottle. Pour in 130g water, mix thoroughly, then put it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for about three weeks.
For serving, measure out about 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass packed with ice (preferably one big block). Drink promptly. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.
