Cocktail This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It
Legend claims that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his team would triumph over a touring English team. To secure an advantage, he organized a grand party on the eve of the match, where he presented his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are notoriously generous four-finger measure whisky pours, traditionally poured from pinky to forefinger. As expected, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being very hungover and, inevitably, beaten the following day. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.
This take on a spin on the old fashioned takes its cue from that original beverage. In our establishment, we serve it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it better suited for a domestic kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Produces 1 litre, to serve 10-12 drinks.
What's Required
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Method
Combine all the ingredients in a sizeable jug. Pour in 130g water, agitate until fully incorporated, then put it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for up to a few weeks.
To serve, pour roughly 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a short glass filled with ice (preferably one large cube). Serve straight away. For a traditional touch, you could pour it using your fingers as they did.
