Cocktail of the Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It
Tale claims that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his team would triumph over a visiting English team. To secure an advantage, he hosted a splendid party the night before the match, where he served his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These were notoriously substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, customarily measured from little finger to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players drank too much, leaving them terribly hungover and, inevitably, vanquished the next day. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg came to be.
This take on a kind-of old fashioned takes its cue from the Maharaja's beverage. At the restaurant, we serve it from a specially crafted five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it better suited for a home setting.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Produces 1 litre, serving 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Combine everything in a sizeable jug. Pour in 130g water, mix to combine, then transfer it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for up to a few weeks.
To serve, dispense about 90ml of the infused whisky into a old fashioned glass filled with ice (ideally one big block). Serve promptly. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure instead.
