Cocktail for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It
Legend has it that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his team would succeed over a visiting English side. To secure an advantage, he threw a splendid party on the eve of the match, at which he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These were incredibly generous four-finger whisky pours, historically gauged from little finger to index finger. Predictably, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being very hungover and, consequently, beaten the day after. And so, the myth of the Patiala peg originated.
This Punjabi spin on the Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from that original drink. Here, we serve it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the formula to make it easier for a domestic setting.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, serving 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Place everything in a large bottle. Pour in 130g water, stir thoroughly, then place it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for up to a few weeks.
For serving, dispense approximately 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a short glass containing ice (traditionally one large cube). Enjoy immediately. For a traditional touch, you could pour it using your fingers as they did.
