Cocktail This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Tale suggests that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his team would win over a visiting English squad. To gain the upper hand, he threw a splendid party the night before the match, where he presented his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are notoriously generous four-finger measure whisky pours, customarily poured from little finger to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being very hungover and, consequently, defeated the next day. In this way, the myth of the Patiala peg originated.
This Punjabi kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail draws inspiration from that original concoction. At the restaurant, we serve it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the formula to make it better suited for a domestic setting.
Patiala Peg
Produces 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.
What's Required
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup (1:1)
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Place everything in a large bottle. Add 130g water, agitate thoroughly, then place it in the refrigerator. You can store it for about three weeks.
To serve, measure out approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass filled with ice (ideally one large cube). Drink straight away. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure for authenticity.
