Cocktail This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Legend claims that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his cricket team would win over a touring English team. To secure an advantage, he threw a splendid party on the eve of the match, where he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These were famously generous four-finger measure whisky pours, customarily gauged from pinky to forefinger. Predictably, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being terribly the worse for wear and, inevitably, beaten the day after. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi variation of Old Fashioned cocktail draws inspiration from the Maharaja's drink. In our establishment, we serve it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it better suited for a household environment.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Makes 1 litre, serving 10-12 people.
Ingredients
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Place everything in a large bottle. Add 130g water, agitate to combine, then put it in the fridge. It will now keep for up to 21 days.
When ready to drink, measure out roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass filled with ice (preferably one large cube). Serve promptly. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure instead.
