Cocktail for This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Tale has it that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his team would win over a visiting English squad. To gain the upper hand, he threw a grand party on the eve of the match, where he presented his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These were notoriously large four-finger measure whisky pours, historically measured from pinky to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being extremely the worse for wear and, consequently, defeated the day after. In this way, the myth of the Patiala peg was born.
This inspired spin on the Old Fashioned cocktail draws inspiration from that original concoction. Here, we offer it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it more suitable for a domestic kitchen.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 people.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 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
Preparation
Combine all the ingredients in a big container. Pour in 130g water, stir thoroughly, then place it in the refrigerator. You can store it for up to a few weeks.
When ready to drink, dispense roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass filled with ice (preferably one large cube). Enjoy immediately. To honour tradition, you could pour it using your fingers as they did.
