Cocktail for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It
Legend claims that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his team would win over a touring English side. To gain the upper hand, he organized a grand party on the eve of the match, at which he offered his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are incredibly generous four-finger measure whisky servings, customarily gauged from pinky to index finger. Predictably, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being extremely the worse for wear and, inevitably, defeated the day after. Thus, the legend of the Patiala peg was born.
This inspired spin on the old fashioned draws inspiration from Singh's drink. At the restaurant, we offer it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've modified the formula to make it better suited for a household environment.
Patiala Peg
Produces 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.
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
Place all the ingredients in a sizeable jug. Pour in 130g water, stir thoroughly, then place it in the fridge. It can be stored for up to a few weeks.
To serve, measure out roughly 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a short glass filled with ice (ideally one large cube). Serve promptly. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.
