Drink of the Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – How to Make It
Folklore suggests that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would triumph over a touring English team. For a competitive edge, he threw a splendid party the night before the match, where he presented his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These were famously generous four-finger measure whisky pours, traditionally measured from pinky to index finger. Predictably, the English players drank too much, leaving them extremely hungover and, consequently, beaten the next day. And so, the story of the Patiala peg originated.
This inspired kind-of old fashioned draws inspiration from that original concoction. At the restaurant, we serve it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've adjusted the instructions to make it better suited for a domestic environment.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, to serve 10-12 drinks.
Ingredients
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Combine everything in a large bottle. Include 130g water, agitate thoroughly, then transfer it in the fridge. It can be stored for about three weeks.
For serving, measure out roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass packed with ice (ideally one big block). Drink immediately. For a traditional touch, you could measure it in by hand as they did.
