Drink This Week: The Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Legend suggests that during 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would succeed over a visiting English squad. For a competitive edge, he hosted a lavish party the night before the match, at which he presented his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are notoriously large four-finger measure whisky pours, customarily measured from little finger to index finger. As expected, the English players overindulged, leaving them very the worse for wear and, inevitably, defeated the day after. And so, the myth of the Patiala peg was born.
This take on a kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from Singh's drink. At the restaurant, we serve it from a bespoke large-format bottle, but we've adapted the instructions to make it better suited for a domestic setting.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, enough for 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Combine everything in a sizeable jug. Add 130g water, agitate until fully incorporated, then transfer it in the fridge. It can be stored for up to 21 days.
For serving, pour about 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a short glass containing ice (traditionally one big block). Serve straight away. If you're feeling traditional, you could pour it using your fingers instead.
