Drink This Week: The Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Tale has it that during 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would win over a visiting English side. To secure an advantage, he threw a grand party on the eve of the match, at which he served his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are incredibly substantial four-finger whisky servings, customarily gauged from pinky to forefinger. Predictably, the English players overindulged, leaving them extremely the worse for wear and, consequently, defeated the next day. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg originated.
This inspired variation of old fashioned takes its cue from Singh's concoction. Here, we offer it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the instructions to make it better suited for a home kitchen.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Makes 1 litre, to serve 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Instructions
Put everything in a big container. Pour in 130g water, stir thoroughly, then transfer it in the fridge. It can be stored for about 21 days.
For serving, dispense roughly 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass containing ice (ideally one large cube). Enjoy straight away. If you're feeling traditional, you could pour it using your fingers instead.
