Cocktail for This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – Recipe
Legend suggests that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would succeed over a visiting English side. To gain the upper hand, he threw a splendid party on the eve of the match, at which he served his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are notoriously large four-finger measure whisky pours, traditionally poured from pinky to forefinger. As expected, the English players partook excessively, leaving them terribly hungover and, inevitably, defeated the day after. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg originated.
This Punjabi kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from that original drink. Here, we present it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've modified the instructions to make it more suitable for a domestic setting.
Patiala Peg
Yields 1 litre, enough for 10-12 portions.
What's Required
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g sugar syrup (1:1)
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Method
Place everything in a large bottle. Add 130g water, stir until fully incorporated, then place it in the fridge. You can store it for up to three weeks.
When ready to drink, measure out roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a old fashioned glass filled with ice (traditionally one large cube). Serve immediately. If you're feeling traditional, you could measure it in by hand instead.
