Cocktail of the Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Tale has it that during 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his cricket team would win over a touring English team. For a competitive edge, he hosted a lavish party on the eve of the match, at which he offered his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are incredibly large four-finger whisky servings, historically gauged from pinky to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players overindulged, leaving them terribly hungover and, inevitably, defeated the following day. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg was born.
This inspired variation of Old Fashioned cocktail draws inspiration from Singh's beverage. Here, we serve it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the instructions to make it more suitable for a household setting.
Patiala Peg
Yields 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.
You Will Need
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Put everything in a sizeable jug. Include 130g water, stir to combine, then transfer it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for as long as three weeks.
To serve, measure out about 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a rocks glass packed with ice (ideally one large cube). Enjoy straight away. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.
