Drink for This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Legend suggests that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his team would win over a visiting English side. To secure an advantage, he hosted a grand party on the eve of the match, where he served his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are notoriously large four-finger whisky pours, historically 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. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg originated.
This inspired kind-of old fashioned takes its cue from Singh's concoction. Here, we serve it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've modified the instructions to make it more suitable for a domestic setting.
Patiala Peg
Produces 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Preparation
Put everything in a big container. Pour in 130g water, agitate thoroughly, then transfer it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for up to a few weeks.
To serve, pour approximately 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a old fashioned glass filled with ice (traditionally one large cube). Drink straight away. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure instead.
