Cocktail for This Week: The Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Folklore claims that during 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would triumph over a touring English team. To secure an advantage, he organized a lavish party on the eve of the match, where he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are incredibly large four-finger measure whisky pours, traditionally gauged from pinky to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being extremely the worse for wear and, inevitably, beaten the following day. Thus, the myth of the Patiala peg originated.
This Punjabi spin on the Old Fashioned cocktail is inspired by the Maharaja's beverage. At the restaurant, we serve it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've modified the formula to make it better suited for a home setting.
Patiala Peg
Yields 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Preparation
Combine everything in a big container. Pour in 130g water, stir thoroughly, then transfer it in the fridge. It will now keep for as long as three weeks.
For serving, dispense about 90ml of the infused whisky into a old fashioned glass packed with ice (ideally one large cube). Drink straight away. If you're feeling traditional, you could pour it using your fingers instead.
