Drink for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Legend claims that during 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his team would succeed over a visiting English team. To secure an advantage, he organized a grand party the night before the match, where he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are famously large four-finger whisky pours, customarily measured from pinky to index finger. As expected, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being extremely the worse for wear and, consequently, vanquished the next day. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg was born.
This inspired kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from the Maharaja's beverage. Here, we present it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the formula to make it better suited for a home environment.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Makes 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Preparation
Combine everything in a large bottle. Pour in 130g water, stir to combine, then place it in the refrigerator. You can store it for as long as 21 days.
For serving, dispense approximately 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a old fashioned glass filled with ice (traditionally one large cube). Drink immediately. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure for authenticity.
