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

Legend claims that during 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his cricket team would triumph over a touring English squad. For a competitive edge, he threw a lavish party on the eve of the match, at which he presented his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These were notoriously substantial four-finger whisky servings, traditionally gauged from little finger to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being very the worse for wear and, consequently, defeated the next day. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.

This Punjabi spin on the old fashioned takes its cue from Singh's beverage. At the restaurant, we serve it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the formula to make it better suited for a domestic environment.

Patiala Peg

Produces 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.

Ingredients

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

Instructions

Place everything in a large bottle. Include 130g water, agitate until fully incorporated, then put it in the fridge. It can be stored for about three weeks.

When ready to drink, measure out approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass containing ice (traditionally one large cube). Enjoy straight away. For a traditional touch, you could use the four-finger measure instead.