Drink for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe

Legend claims that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was set that his cricket team would succeed over a touring English team. To gain the upper hand, he hosted a splendid party the night before the match, at which he served his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are incredibly substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, customarily poured from pinky to index finger. Predictably, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being extremely the worse for wear and, consequently, vanquished the following day. And so, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.

This inspired spin on the Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from Singh's concoction. In our establishment, we present it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've adapted the formula to make it easier 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 bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
• 1g orange bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
• A pinch of salt
• 2g xanthan gum powder

Method

Put everything in a big container. Include 130g water, agitate thoroughly, then put it in the fridge. It will now keep for about 21 days.

To serve, measure out roughly 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a rocks glass filled with ice (traditionally one big block). Serve straight away. If you're feeling traditional, you could pour it using your fingers instead.