Drink for This Week: The Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Legend has it that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his team would win over a visiting English side. To gain the upper hand, he threw a grand party on the eve of the match, at which he presented his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are famously large four-finger whisky pours, customarily gauged from pinky to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players drank too much, leaving them extremely the worse for wear and, consequently, beaten the next day. In this way, the myth of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi variation of old fashioned takes its cue from that original concoction. Here, we serve it from a bespoke large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the formula to make it easier for a domestic environment.
Patiala Peg
Yields 1 litre, to serve 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g sugar syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Preparation
Combine everything in a sizeable jug. Pour in 130g water, agitate until fully incorporated, then put it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for about three weeks.
For serving, pour about 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass filled with ice (ideally one big block). Enjoy promptly. If you're feeling traditional, you could measure it in by hand as they did.
