Cocktail for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It
Tale claims that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his cricket team would triumph over a visiting English side. To gain the upper hand, he hosted a splendid party the night before the match, at which he presented his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These were famously generous four-finger measure whisky pours, traditionally poured from pinky to index finger. Predictably, the English players overindulged, leaving them terribly hungover and, inevitably, beaten the next day. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg originated.
This Punjabi variation of Old Fashioned cocktail is inspired by Singh's drink. Here, we present it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've modified the instructions to make it better suited for a household kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Produces 1 litre, serving 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup (1:1)
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Place all the ingredients in a large bottle. Add 130g water, stir thoroughly, then place it in the fridge. It will now keep for about a few weeks.
For serving, measure out approximately 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a rocks glass containing ice (ideally one big block). Drink immediately. If you're feeling traditional, you could pour it using your fingers instead.
