Cocktail This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It
Folklore suggests that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his cricket team would succeed over a touring English team. To secure an advantage, he threw a splendid party the night before the match, where he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are notoriously large four-finger whisky servings, historically measured from pinky to index finger. As expected, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being terribly the worse for wear and, inevitably, beaten the next day. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg originated.
This take on a kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail is inspired by Singh's concoction. In our establishment, we present it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've modified the recipe to make it more suitable for a domestic kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.
What's Required
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Place all the ingredients in a sizeable jug. Pour in 130g water, agitate until fully incorporated, then transfer it in the refrigerator. You can store it for about a few weeks.
When ready to drink, dispense approximately 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a old fashioned glass containing ice (ideally one large cube). Serve straight away. If you're feeling traditional, you could measure it in by hand as they did.
