Cocktail This Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Folklore suggests that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his cricket team would win over a touring English squad. To secure an advantage, he organized a splendid party on the eve of the match, at which he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are incredibly substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, historically measured from pinky to index finger. As expected, the English players drank too much, leaving them extremely hungover and, inevitably, defeated the day after. Thus, the legend of the Patiala peg came to be.
This take on a kind-of old fashioned draws inspiration from that original beverage. Here, we offer it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it more suitable for a domestic environment.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Yields 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Method
Combine everything in a sizeable jug. Add 130g water, agitate to combine, then put it in the fridge. You can store it for about a few weeks.
When ready to drink, measure out about 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass containing ice (traditionally one big block). Enjoy straight away. To honour tradition, you could pour it using your fingers as they did.
