Drink This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – Recipe
Legend claims that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his team would triumph over a touring English squad. For a competitive edge, he hosted a lavish party the night before the match, where he presented his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These were incredibly generous four-finger whisky servings, customarily poured from pinky to index finger. Predictably, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being terribly hungover and, inevitably, beaten the next day. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg originated.
This take on a spin on the Old Fashioned cocktail is inspired by Singh's beverage. Here, we serve it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've modified the instructions to make it better suited for a household setting.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, to serve 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Preparation
Put all the ingredients in a sizeable jug. Add 130g water, mix thoroughly, then place it in the fridge. It can be stored for as long as a few weeks.
For serving, pour roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass containing ice (preferably one big block). Drink immediately. If you're feeling traditional, you could pour it using your fingers as they did.
