Drink of the Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe

Legend has it that during 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his cricket team would succeed over a touring English squad. To gain the upper hand, he hosted a grand party the night before the match, where he served his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These were famously substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, customarily poured from pinky to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being very hungover and, consequently, defeated the next day. And so, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.

This take on a kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from that original concoction. In our establishment, we offer it from a specially crafted five-litre bottle, but we've modified the instructions to make it better suited for a household kitchen.

The Patiala Peg Recipe

Yields 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.

Ingredients

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

Method

Place all the ingredients in a big container. Include 130g water, agitate to combine, then transfer it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for as long as three weeks.

When ready to drink, pour about 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a rocks glass filled with ice (ideally one big block). Serve immediately. For a traditional touch, you could pour it using your fingers instead.