Drink for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It

Tale suggests that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his cricket team would triumph over a touring English team. To gain the upper hand, he organized a grand party on the eve of the match, at which he offered his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are notoriously generous four-finger measure whisky servings, historically poured from little finger to forefinger. Predictably, the English players drank too much, leaving them extremely hungover and, consequently, defeated the next day. And so, the myth of the Patiala peg was born.

This take on a kind-of old fashioned draws inspiration from the Maharaja's drink. In our establishment, we serve it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've modified the instructions to make it better suited for a home kitchen.

The Patiala Peg Recipe

Yields 1 litre, enough for 10-12 people.

You Will Need

• 725g Scotch whisky blend
• 130g sugar syrup
• 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
• 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
• A small pinch of salt
• 2g xanthan gum

Instructions

Combine everything in a sizeable jug. Add 130g water, mix thoroughly, then transfer it in the fridge. It can be stored for about a few weeks.

For serving, dispense about 90ml of the infused whisky into a old fashioned glass packed with ice (traditionally one large cube). Serve straight away. For a traditional touch, you could measure it in by hand for authenticity.