Drink for This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – Recipe

Tale has it that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would win over a visiting English side. To gain the upper hand, he organized a lavish party on the eve of the match, at which he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These were incredibly substantial four-finger whisky servings, traditionally measured from pinky to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being extremely hungover and, inevitably, vanquished the next day. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg was born.

This inspired kind-of old fashioned takes its cue from Singh's concoction. In our establishment, we offer it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adapted the instructions to make it more suitable for a domestic environment.

The Patiala Peg Recipe

Yields 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.

Ingredients

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

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients in a big container. Pour in 130g water, mix to combine, then transfer it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for as long as a few weeks.

To serve, dispense approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass containing ice (preferably one large cube). Enjoy immediately. For a traditional touch, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.