Drink This Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Tale claims that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his cricket team would win over a visiting English team. To secure an advantage, he threw a grand party on the eve of the match, where he offered his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are incredibly generous four-finger measure whisky pours, traditionally gauged from pinky to forefinger. Predictably, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being terribly the worse for wear and, inevitably, beaten the day after. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.
This inspired variation of old fashioned draws inspiration from that original concoction. Here, we present it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adapted the formula to make it easier for a home environment.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.
You Will Need
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Preparation
Combine everything in a large bottle. Include 130g water, stir thoroughly, then transfer it in the fridge. It will now keep for about three weeks.
When ready to drink, dispense approximately 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a rocks glass containing ice (traditionally one large cube). Enjoy straight away. To honour tradition, you could measure it in by hand for authenticity.
