Drink of the Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe

Folklore has it that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his team would succeed over a visiting English squad. For a competitive edge, he threw a lavish party the night before the match, where he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are famously substantial four-finger measure whisky pours, traditionally measured from pinky to index finger. As expected, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being terribly hungover and, inevitably, defeated the day after. And so, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.

This inspired variation of old fashioned draws inspiration from the Maharaja's concoction. In our establishment, we present it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adapted the instructions to make it more suitable for a domestic kitchen.

Patiala Peg

Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 portions.

Ingredients

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

Preparation

Put all the ingredients in a sizeable jug. Add 130g water, agitate thoroughly, then put it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for about three weeks.

To serve, pour roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a rocks glass filled with ice (ideally one big block). Drink promptly. For a traditional touch, you could measure it in by hand for authenticity.