Cocktail of the Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Folklore suggests that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his cricket team would win over a touring English squad. To secure an advantage, he threw a lavish party on the eve of the match, where he offered his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are incredibly generous four-finger whisky servings, traditionally gauged from pinky to index finger. As expected, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being extremely the worse for wear and, consequently, defeated the day after. And so, the myth of the Patiala peg originated.
This take on a variation of old fashioned is inspired by that original concoction. In our establishment, we serve it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've modified the formula to make it easier for a household setting.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, serving 10-12 people.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Method
Combine everything in a big container. Add 130g water, mix until fully incorporated, then place it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for as long as a few weeks.
For serving, pour roughly 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a short glass containing ice (traditionally one large cube). Drink promptly. If you're feeling traditional, you could measure it in by hand as they did.
