Cocktail This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Folklore suggests that during 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his team would succeed over a touring English side. For a competitive edge, he threw a lavish party on the eve of the match, at which he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are notoriously generous four-finger whisky pours, customarily poured from pinky to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being very the worse for wear and, consequently, defeated the next day. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg originated.
This Punjabi spin on the old fashioned is inspired by Singh's beverage. In our establishment, we present it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the instructions to make it better suited for a household kitchen.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Produces 1 litre, serving 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g sugar syrup (1:1)
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Place everything in a large bottle. Include 130g water, stir thoroughly, then put it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for up to three weeks.
To serve, dispense roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass filled with ice (traditionally one large cube). Serve straight away. For a traditional touch, you could use the four-finger measure instead.
