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

Legend has it that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his team would win over a touring English squad. To gain the upper hand, he organized a grand party on the eve of the match, at which he presented his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These were famously large four-finger measure whisky servings, traditionally gauged from little finger to index finger. As expected, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being very the worse for wear and, consequently, vanquished the next day. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.

This inspired kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail is inspired by Singh's concoction. Here, we present it from a specially crafted five-litre bottle, but we've modified the recipe to make it easier for a domestic setting.

The Patiala Peg Recipe

Produces 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.

You Will Need

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

Preparation

Put everything in a large bottle. Include 130g water, agitate thoroughly, then place it in the refrigerator. You can store it for up to a few weeks.

When ready to drink, dispense about 90ml of the infused whisky into a rocks glass filled with ice (preferably one large cube). Drink promptly. To honour tradition, you could pour it using your fingers as they did.