Drink for This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – How to Make It

Tale has it that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would succeed over a touring English squad. To gain the upper hand, he threw a splendid party on the eve of the match, at which he served his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These were incredibly large four-finger measure whisky pours, customarily gauged from pinky to forefinger. As expected, the English players drank too much, leaving them terribly hungover and, consequently, defeated the next day. And so, the story of the Patiala peg was born.

This inspired variation of old fashioned takes its cue from that original concoction. At the restaurant, we present it from a specially crafted five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the instructions to make it better suited for a domestic environment.

Patiala Peg

Yields 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.

What's Required

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

Method

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

For serving, measure out approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass filled with ice (preferably one big block). Drink straight away. For a traditional touch, you could pour it using your fingers as they did.