Drink This Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Legend claims that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his team would win over a touring English team. For a competitive edge, he organized a grand party on the eve of the match, where he served his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are famously generous four-finger whisky pours, customarily poured from pinky to index finger. As expected, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being extremely the worse for wear and, consequently, vanquished the day after. And so, the legend of the Patiala peg came to be.
This take on a kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from that original beverage. In our establishment, we present it from a bespoke large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it more suitable for a home kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, enough for 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Method
Put everything in a large bottle. Add 130g water, agitate to combine, then put it in the fridge. You can store it for up to three weeks.
To serve, pour roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a old fashioned glass containing ice (traditionally one large cube). Serve promptly. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure for authenticity.
