Drink for This Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe

Folklore suggests that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was set that his team would triumph over a visiting English team. To gain the upper hand, he threw a grand party the night before the match, at which he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are incredibly substantial four-finger measure whisky servings, customarily poured from pinky to index finger. As expected, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being very the worse for wear and, consequently, defeated the following day. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.

This inspired variation of old fashioned draws inspiration from Singh's beverage. Here, we present it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the instructions to make it more suitable for a home kitchen.

Patiala Peg

Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 drinks.

You Will Need

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

Method

Combine everything in a big container. Pour in 130g water, mix until fully incorporated, then place it in the refrigerator. You can store it for about 21 days.

When ready to drink, dispense about 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a old fashioned glass filled with ice (preferably one big block). Drink promptly. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure for authenticity.