Cocktail for This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – Recipe
Folklore has it that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would win over a touring English squad. To secure an advantage, he hosted a grand party the night before the match, where he presented his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are notoriously large four-finger whisky servings, historically gauged from little finger to forefinger. Predictably, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being extremely the worse for wear and, consequently, beaten the day after. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg was born.
This take on a variation of Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from that original drink. At the restaurant, we present it from a bespoke large-format bottle, but we've modified the formula to make it better suited for a household kitchen.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Yields 1 litre, enough for 10-12 people.
You Will Need
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Method
Put all the ingredients in a large bottle. Include 130g water, stir thoroughly, then put it in the fridge. You can store it for about 21 days.
To serve, measure out approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass containing ice (preferably one large cube). Drink straight away. If you're feeling traditional, you could measure it in by hand for authenticity.
