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

Tale suggests that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his cricket team would succeed over a visiting English squad. To secure an advantage, he threw a grand party on the eve of the match, at which he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are famously substantial four-finger whisky servings, historically gauged from little finger to index finger. Predictably, the English players drank too much, leaving them extremely the worse for wear and, consequently, defeated the following day. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg was born.

This Punjabi kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from the Maharaja's concoction. Here, we offer it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've modified the formula to make it easier for a household kitchen.

The Patiala Peg Recipe

Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 people.

You Will Need

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

Method

Place everything in a sizeable jug. Pour in 130g water, agitate to combine, then put it in the fridge. It can be stored for about a few weeks.

For serving, dispense approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass filled with ice (ideally one large cube). Enjoy immediately. To honour tradition, you could measure it in by hand as they did.