Drink This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Tale claims that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his cricket team would succeed over a visiting English squad. To secure an advantage, he organized a splendid party the night before the match, at which he presented his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are notoriously generous four-finger measure whisky pours, traditionally gauged from pinky to forefinger. As expected, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being terribly hungover and, consequently, vanquished the following day. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg came to be.
This take on a variation of old fashioned draws inspiration from the Maharaja's concoction. In our establishment, we present it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've adjusted the formula to make it better suited for a domestic environment.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, serving 10-12 people.
What's Required
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Put all the ingredients in a sizeable jug. Pour in 130g water, agitate thoroughly, then place it in the refrigerator. You can store it for as long as 21 days.
When ready to drink, dispense roughly 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a old fashioned glass filled with ice (traditionally one big block). Serve promptly. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.
