Drink for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Folklore suggests that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his cricket team would win over a visiting English side. To secure an advantage, he organized a grand party the night before the match, at which he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are incredibly substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, customarily gauged from little finger to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players overindulged, leaving them very the worse for wear and, consequently, beaten the following day. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.
This take on a kind-of old fashioned is inspired by Singh's beverage. Here, we offer it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've modified the recipe to make it more suitable for a household environment.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Makes 1 litre, serving 10-12 portions.
What's Required
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Method
Combine all the ingredients in a big container. Include 130g water, agitate thoroughly, then place it in the fridge. It can be stored for as long as 21 days.
For serving, dispense approximately 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a rocks glass packed with ice (ideally one big block). Drink straight away. For a traditional touch, you could measure it in by hand as they did.
