Drink for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe

Tale has it that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would triumph over a touring English squad. To gain the upper hand, he organized a splendid party the night before the match, at which he presented his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are incredibly generous four-finger whisky servings, customarily gauged from pinky to forefinger. Predictably, the English players overindulged, leaving them very the worse for wear and, consequently, defeated the day after. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.

This take on a kind-of old fashioned draws inspiration from that original beverage. In our establishment, we offer it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it better suited for a domestic environment.

The Patiala Peg Recipe

Produces 1 litre, to serve 10-12 drinks.

What's Required

• 725g blended Scotch
• 130g simple syrup
• 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
• 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
• A small pinch of salt
• 2g xanthan gum powder

Preparation

Combine everything in a sizeable jug. Pour in 130g water, agitate to combine, then put it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for up to three weeks.

To serve, pour about 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass filled with ice (preferably one large cube). Serve straight away. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.