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

Folklore suggests that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his team would win over a touring English side. To gain the upper hand, he organized a grand party on the eve of the match, where he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are famously large four-finger whisky pours, traditionally gauged from little finger to index finger. As expected, the English players partook excessively, leaving them terribly the worse for wear and, consequently, vanquished the next day. And so, the legend of the Patiala peg was born.

This Punjabi kind-of old fashioned takes its cue from Singh's drink. In our establishment, we offer it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the instructions to make it better suited for a domestic environment.

Patiala Peg

Produces 1 litre, serving 10-12 people.

You Will Need

• 725g blended scotch whisky
• 130g sugar syrup
• 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
• 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
• A dash of salt
• 2g xanthan gum powder

Instructions

Place everything in a sizeable jug. Pour in 130g water, mix until fully incorporated, then put it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for about three weeks.

For serving, pour approximately 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a rocks glass containing ice (traditionally one large cube). Enjoy straight away. To honour tradition, you could measure it in by hand as they did.