Drink for This Week: The Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Folklore has it that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his cricket team would succeed over a visiting English side. To gain the upper hand, he hosted a grand party the night before the match, where he served his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are notoriously generous four-finger whisky pours, customarily measured from pinky to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players overindulged, leaving them terribly hungover and, inevitably, defeated the day after. And so, the myth of the Patiala peg originated.
This take on a variation of old fashioned is inspired by the Maharaja's concoction. Here, we offer it from a bespoke large-format bottle, but we've modified the instructions to make it better suited for a household kitchen.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Yields 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Combine all the ingredients in a sizeable jug. Pour in 130g water, mix to combine, then place it in the fridge. It will now keep for as long as three weeks.
To serve, pour roughly 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a old fashioned glass filled with ice (preferably one large cube). Drink straight away. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.
