Drink for This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Folklore has it that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would triumph over a visiting English squad. To gain the upper hand, he threw a lavish party on the eve of the match, at which he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are incredibly substantial four-finger measure whisky pours, traditionally poured from little finger to index finger. As expected, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being very hungover and, consequently, defeated the next day. Thus, the myth of the Patiala peg came to be.
This take on a spin on the old fashioned is inspired by the Maharaja's beverage. In our establishment, we present it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the instructions to make it better suited for a domestic environment.
Patiala Peg
Produces 1 litre, serving 10-12 people.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Instructions
Combine all the ingredients in a big container. Pour in 130g water, mix until fully incorporated, then put it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for about a few weeks.
For serving, measure out roughly 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a short glass containing ice (ideally one big block). Enjoy straight away. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure instead.
