Drink of the Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Legend has it that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his team would win over a touring English team. To secure an advantage, he organized a grand party on the eve of the match, at which he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are notoriously large four-finger whisky servings, traditionally poured from little finger to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being extremely the worse for wear and, inevitably, vanquished the following day. And so, the story of the Patiala peg was born.
This take on a variation of old fashioned takes its cue from that original concoction. Here, we offer it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've modified the recipe to make it better suited for a home environment.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Produces 1 litre, serving 10-12 drinks.
You Will Need
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Instructions
Place all the ingredients in a large bottle. Include 130g water, agitate to combine, then put it in the fridge. It will now keep for as long as three weeks.
To serve, measure out about 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass containing ice (preferably one big block). Drink straight away. For a traditional touch, you could measure it in by hand as they did.
