Cocktail This Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Legend claims that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his team would succeed over a visiting English side. To secure an advantage, he hosted a lavish party on the eve of the match, where he offered his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are notoriously generous four-finger whisky servings, historically poured from little finger to forefinger. Predictably, the English players partook excessively, leaving them extremely hungover and, inevitably, beaten the following day. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg was born.
This inspired spin on the Old Fashioned cocktail draws inspiration from that original concoction. In our establishment, we offer it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it better suited for a household kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, enough for 10-12 people.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Method
Combine everything in a large bottle. Include 130g water, mix until fully incorporated, then put it in the fridge. It can be stored for about a few weeks.
When ready to drink, measure out approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a short glass filled with ice (ideally one large cube). Serve immediately. For a traditional touch, you could use the four-finger measure instead.
