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

Folklore suggests that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was determined that his cricket team would triumph over a touring English side. For a competitive edge, he threw a lavish party the night before the match, at which he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are notoriously substantial four-finger whisky pours, customarily gauged from pinky to forefinger. Predictably, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being extremely hungover and, inevitably, vanquished the following day. And so, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.

This Punjabi variation of Old Fashioned cocktail draws inspiration from that original drink. In our establishment, we offer it from a custom-made large-format bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it better suited for a domestic kitchen.

The Patiala Peg Recipe

Produces 1 litre, to serve 10-12 drinks.

Ingredients

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

Preparation

Place everything in a sizeable jug. Add 130g water, stir to combine, then transfer it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for as long as three weeks.

For serving, pour about 90ml of the prepared cocktail into a short glass packed with ice (traditionally one large cube). Enjoy immediately. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.