Drink This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Folklore has it that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his team would succeed over a visiting English team. To gain the upper hand, he organized a lavish party the night before the match, at which he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These were notoriously large four-finger measure whisky pours, historically poured from pinky to forefinger. As expected, the English players overindulged, leaving them very hungover and, consequently, defeated the next day. In this way, the myth of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi variation of old fashioned is inspired by that original concoction. In our establishment, we serve it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it more suitable for a household kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Produces 1 litre, to serve 10-12 drinks.
You Will Need
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Put all the ingredients in a big container. Include 130g water, stir until fully incorporated, then transfer it in the fridge. You can store it for about 21 days.
For serving, dispense roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a rocks glass filled with ice (traditionally one big block). Enjoy straight away. For a traditional touch, you could use the four-finger measure for authenticity.
