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

Legend has it that during 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would triumph over a visiting English team. For a competitive edge, he hosted a lavish party the night before the match, where he served his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are famously substantial four-finger whisky servings, historically measured from pinky to forefinger. Predictably, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being terribly the worse for wear and, consequently, beaten the day after. Thus, the myth of the Patiala peg was born.

This inspired kind-of old fashioned takes its cue from that original drink. At the restaurant, we offer it from a specially crafted five-litre bottle, but we've modified the recipe to make it more suitable for a home environment.

The Patiala Peg Recipe

Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 drinks.

Ingredients

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

Instructions

Place everything in a sizeable jug. Pour in 130g water, agitate thoroughly, then put it in the fridge. You can store it for up to three weeks.

To serve, measure out roughly 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a short glass containing ice (ideally one big block). Drink promptly. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure for authenticity.