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

Tale suggests that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his team would win over a touring English squad. For a competitive edge, he hosted a splendid party the night before the match, at which he served his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are famously substantial four-finger whisky pours, historically gauged from little finger to index finger. Predictably, the English players drank too much, leaving them very the worse for wear and, inevitably, vanquished the following day. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg originated.

This take on a kind-of old fashioned takes its cue from that original drink. In our establishment, we offer it from a custom-made five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it easier for a household environment.

The Patiala Peg Recipe

Makes 1 litre, enough for 10-12 people.

Ingredients

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

Instructions

Put all the ingredients in a large bottle. Pour in 130g water, stir thoroughly, then place it in the refrigerator. You can store it for as long as a few weeks.

When ready to drink, measure out roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass containing ice (traditionally one large cube). Drink immediately. For a traditional touch, you could measure it in by hand as they did.