Cocktail This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Folklore claims that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was set that his team would win over a touring English squad. To secure an advantage, he organized a lavish party on the eve of the match, where he presented his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are notoriously substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, historically poured from pinky to forefinger. Predictably, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being very hungover and, inevitably, vanquished the day after. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg was born.
This Punjabi kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from the Maharaja's drink. Here, we serve it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it more suitable for a domestic environment.
Patiala Peg
Produces 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Method
Put all the ingredients in a sizeable jug. Add 130g water, stir until fully incorporated, then transfer it in the refrigerator. You can store it for about a few weeks.
To serve, pour approximately 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a rocks glass packed with ice (traditionally one big block). Drink immediately. If you're feeling traditional, you could measure it in by hand as they did.
