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

Tale claims that during 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his team would succeed over a visiting English side. For a competitive edge, he threw a splendid party the night before the match, at which he offered his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are famously generous four-finger whisky servings, customarily measured from little finger to index finger. As expected, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being extremely the worse for wear and, inevitably, defeated the following day. And so, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.

This inspired kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail draws inspiration from that original concoction. Here, we serve it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've modified the instructions to make it easier for a domestic environment.

The Patiala Peg Recipe

Makes 1 litre, to serve 10-12 drinks.

You Will Need

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

Method

Place all the ingredients in a big container. Include 130g water, mix until fully incorporated, then put it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for as long as a few weeks.

To serve, pour approximately 90ml of the infused whisky into a rocks glass containing ice (preferably one large cube). Drink straight away. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure instead.