Drink for This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It
Folklore suggests that during 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his cricket team would succeed over a visiting English squad. To secure an advantage, he hosted a grand party the night before the match, where he served his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These were incredibly large four-finger whisky pours, traditionally poured from little finger to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being extremely hungover and, consequently, vanquished the day after. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg originated.
This take on a kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail draws inspiration from that original drink. In our establishment, we offer it from a bespoke large-format bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it more suitable for a household setting.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup (1:1)
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Instructions
Put everything in a big container. Add 130g water, stir until fully incorporated, then transfer it in the fridge. You can store it for about three weeks.
When ready to drink, dispense about 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a rocks glass containing ice (ideally one big block). Serve promptly. If you're feeling traditional, you could pour it using your fingers as they did.
