Cocktail of the Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Legend has it that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his cricket team would succeed over a visiting English team. To gain the upper hand, he organized a splendid party on the eve of the match, at which he served his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are notoriously generous four-finger whisky servings, customarily measured from little finger to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players partook excessively, leaving them terribly hungover and, inevitably, beaten the day after. And so, the story of the Patiala peg was born.
This Punjabi spin on the old fashioned takes its cue from that original drink. At the restaurant, we offer it from a bespoke large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the formula to make it easier for a domestic kitchen.
Patiala Peg
Produces 1 litre, to serve 10-12 people.
Ingredients
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g sugar syrup (1:1)
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Place everything in a large bottle. Add 130g water, mix until fully incorporated, then place it in the fridge. It will now keep for as long as three weeks.
For serving, pour roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a rocks glass filled with ice (traditionally one big block). Drink promptly. If you're feeling traditional, you could measure it in by hand as they did.
