Drink This Week: The Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Folklore has it that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was set that his cricket team would succeed over a visiting English squad. To secure an advantage, he organized a splendid party on the eve of the match, at which he offered his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These were incredibly substantial four-finger whisky servings, traditionally gauged from pinky to index finger. Predictably, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being terribly hungover and, consequently, beaten the following day. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg originated.
This Punjabi variation of old fashioned is inspired by Singh's concoction. In our establishment, we present it from a specially crafted five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it better suited for a home kitchen.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 people.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Combine all the ingredients in a big container. Add 130g water, stir until fully incorporated, then place it in the fridge. It can be stored for as long as three weeks.
To serve, dispense approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a short glass packed with ice (ideally one large cube). Drink immediately. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure instead.
