Drink for This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Tale claims that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was set that his cricket team would succeed over a visiting English team. For a competitive edge, he threw a grand party the night before the match, where he offered his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are notoriously substantial four-finger measure whisky pours, historically measured from pinky to index finger. As expected, the English players partook excessively, leaving them terribly the worse for wear and, inevitably, beaten the next day. Thus, the myth of the Patiala peg was born.
This inspired kind-of old fashioned draws inspiration from Singh's beverage. Here, we present it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it better suited for a domestic kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Produces 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.
You Will Need
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Put all the ingredients in a sizeable jug. Add 130g water, stir until fully incorporated, then transfer it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for up to three weeks.
When ready to drink, dispense approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a short glass filled with ice (ideally one big block). Drink promptly. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.
