Drink of the Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Legend suggests that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his team would succeed over a visiting English team. For a competitive edge, he threw a grand party the night before the match, at which he offered his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are incredibly generous four-finger measure whisky servings, historically gauged from little finger to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being very hungover and, inevitably, vanquished the next day. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg came to be.
This take on a kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from the Maharaja's concoction. Here, we offer it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it better suited for a household kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Yields 1 litre, enough for 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
Combine everything in a big container. Pour in 130g water, stir thoroughly, then transfer it in the fridge. It can be stored for about three weeks.
When ready to drink, measure out approximately 90ml of the infused whisky into a rocks glass containing ice (ideally one large cube). Enjoy immediately. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure for authenticity.
