Drink for This Week: The Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Folklore has it that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his cricket team would triumph over a visiting English squad. To secure an advantage, he hosted a splendid party on the eve of the match, at which he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These were notoriously substantial four-finger measure whisky pours, customarily gauged from little finger to forefinger. Predictably, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being terribly hungover and, inevitably, vanquished the next day. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.
This take on a kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from Singh's concoction. In our establishment, we serve it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've modified the recipe to make it more suitable for a home kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.
What's Required
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup (1:1)
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Method
Put all the ingredients in a large bottle. Include 130g water, mix to combine, then put it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for as long as three weeks.
When ready to drink, measure out roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a old fashioned glass filled with ice (traditionally one large cube). Drink straight away. For a traditional touch, you could measure it in by hand for authenticity.
