Drink for This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Legend claims that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his team would succeed over a visiting English team. To secure an advantage, he threw a splendid party on the eve of the match, where he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These were incredibly large four-finger whisky pours, customarily gauged from pinky to index finger. As expected, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being terribly hungover and, inevitably, vanquished the day after. Thus, the myth of the Patiala peg came to be.
This take on a spin on the old fashioned draws inspiration from Singh's drink. In our establishment, we serve it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the formula to make it more suitable for a domestic setting.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Yields 1 litre, to serve 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup (1:1)
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Method
Place all the ingredients in a big container. Include 130g water, agitate to combine, then put it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for as long as three weeks.
To serve, pour about 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a short glass filled with ice (traditionally one large cube). Enjoy straight away. For a traditional touch, you could measure it in by hand for authenticity.
