Drink of the Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Folklore has it that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would win over a visiting English squad. For a competitive edge, he organized a lavish party on the eve of the match, where he served his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are incredibly large four-finger whisky servings, historically gauged from little finger to forefinger. As expected, the English players partook excessively, leaving them terribly the worse for wear and, consequently, beaten the next day. Thus, the legend of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail draws inspiration from that original concoction. At the restaurant, we present it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the instructions to make it more suitable for a domestic kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, enough for 10-12 portions.
What's Required
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Put all the ingredients in a big container. Add 130g water, agitate thoroughly, then transfer it in the fridge. It will now keep for as long as 21 days.
To serve, measure out about 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass filled with ice (ideally one large cube). Drink straight away. To honour tradition, you could measure it in by hand as they did.
