Cocktail for This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Tale suggests that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his cricket team would win over a touring English side. For a competitive edge, he organized a grand party on the eve of the match, at which he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are notoriously generous four-finger measure whisky pours, historically measured from little finger to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being extremely the worse for wear and, consequently, beaten the day after. Thus, the legend of the Patiala peg was born.
This Punjabi kind-of old fashioned takes its cue from Singh's concoction. In our establishment, we present it from a specially crafted five-litre bottle, but we've modified the instructions to make it better suited for a domestic setting.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Produces 1 litre, to serve 10-12 people.
What's Required
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Preparation
Combine everything in a sizeable jug. Add 130g water, agitate thoroughly, then place it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for as long as three weeks.
For serving, measure out roughly 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a short glass filled with ice (ideally one large cube). Drink promptly. For a traditional touch, you could use the four-finger measure instead.
