Drink This Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Folklore claims that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his cricket team would succeed over a visiting English team. To gain the upper hand, he threw a grand party on the eve of the match, at which he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are notoriously generous four-finger whisky pours, traditionally poured from pinky to forefinger. Predictably, the English players overindulged, leaving them terribly hungover and, inevitably, defeated the day after. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi spin on the Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from that original concoction. Here, we serve it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it more suitable for a household environment.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Yields 1 litre, to serve 10-12 drinks.
What's Required
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Preparation
Place all the ingredients in a sizeable jug. Include 130g water, mix thoroughly, then put it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for about 21 days.
To serve, dispense about 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a rocks glass containing ice (traditionally one big block). Enjoy straight away. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.
