Cocktail of the Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Legend suggests that during 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his team would succeed over a visiting English team. For a competitive edge, he organized a splendid party on the eve of the match, where he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are notoriously large four-finger measure whisky servings, customarily poured from little finger to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players partook excessively, leaving them extremely hungover and, consequently, defeated the following day. Thus, the myth of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi spin on the Old Fashioned cocktail is inspired by the Maharaja's beverage. Here, we offer it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've adapted the instructions to make it more suitable for a home kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Yields 1 litre, to serve 10-12 people.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Method
Combine all the ingredients in a large bottle. Pour in 130g water, stir thoroughly, then place it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for up to 21 days.
To serve, dispense roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a rocks glass filled with ice (preferably one big block). Drink promptly. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure instead.
