Drink of the Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe

Folklore claims that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his team would win over a touring English team. To secure an advantage, he organized a grand party on the eve of the match, at which he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These were incredibly large four-finger measure whisky servings, customarily measured from pinky to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being extremely the worse for wear and, consequently, defeated the day after. In this way, the myth of the Patiala peg came to be.

This take on a spin on the Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from the Maharaja's drink. Here, we serve it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've adjusted the instructions to make it easier for a home kitchen.

Patiala Peg

Makes 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.

Ingredients

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

Method

Place all the ingredients in a large bottle. Add 130g water, stir until fully incorporated, then place it in the fridge. It can be stored for up to three weeks.

To serve, measure out about 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass packed with ice (traditionally one large cube). Serve promptly. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure instead.