Drink of the Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe
Tale has it that during 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was set that his cricket team would triumph over a touring English side. To secure an advantage, he organized a grand party the night before the match, where he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These were famously large four-finger whisky pours, historically measured from little finger to index finger. Predictably, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being extremely hungover and, inevitably, defeated the next day. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg originated.
This take on a variation of old fashioned draws inspiration from that original drink. At the restaurant, we offer it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the instructions to make it easier for a home environment.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, to serve 10-12 people.
Ingredients
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Combine everything in a big container. Add 130g water, agitate to combine, then put it in the fridge. You can store it for about a few weeks.
For serving, dispense about 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass containing ice (preferably one big block). Enjoy straight away. To honour tradition, you could measure it in by hand as they did.
