Drink This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Tale suggests that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his cricket team would succeed over a touring English side. To gain the upper hand, he hosted a lavish party the night before the match, where he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are notoriously substantial four-finger whisky pours, traditionally measured from pinky to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being extremely hungover and, inevitably, beaten the following day. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi spin on the Old Fashioned cocktail draws inspiration from the Maharaja's beverage. Here, we offer it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've adjusted the instructions to make it more suitable for a home kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Instructions
Put everything in a large bottle. Include 130g water, agitate until fully incorporated, then put it in the fridge. It will now keep for as long as a few weeks.
When ready to drink, measure out roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a rocks glass containing ice (ideally one big block). Serve immediately. To honour tradition, you could pour it using your fingers for authenticity.
