Cocktail for This Week: The Patiala Peg Cocktail – Recipe

Tale suggests that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was set that his cricket team would win over a touring English team. For a competitive edge, he hosted a splendid party on the eve of the match, where he offered his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are notoriously generous four-finger measure whisky pours, historically measured from little finger to forefinger. Predictably, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being extremely hungover and, inevitably, beaten the day after. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg was born.

This take on a spin on the old fashioned takes its cue from Singh's beverage. Here, we present it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it easier for a domestic setting.

The Patiala Peg Recipe

Makes 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.

Ingredients

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

Instructions

Place all the ingredients in a sizeable jug. Pour in 130g water, mix to combine, then place it in the fridge. It will now keep for as long as 21 days.

To serve, measure out roughly 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a old fashioned glass packed with ice (ideally one big block). Enjoy promptly. To honour tradition, you could measure it in by hand for authenticity.