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

Tale suggests that during 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his cricket team would triumph over a visiting English squad. To secure an advantage, he organized a grand party the night before the match, at which he presented his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are notoriously generous four-finger measure whisky pours, customarily measured from little finger to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players partook excessively, leaving them extremely hungover and, inevitably, defeated the day after. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg originated.

This take on a variation of Old Fashioned cocktail is inspired by Singh's drink. In our establishment, we offer it from a specially crafted five-litre bottle, but we've adjusted the formula to make it easier for a household kitchen.

Patiala Peg

Makes 1 litre, to serve 10-12 drinks.

Ingredients

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

Instructions

Combine everything in a sizeable jug. Include 130g water, mix thoroughly, then transfer it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for as long as three weeks.

To serve, pour roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass containing ice (preferably one large cube). Serve promptly. For a traditional touch, you could measure it in by hand for authenticity.