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

Tale has it that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was set that his team would succeed over a visiting English side. To gain the upper hand, he hosted a lavish party on the eve of the match, where he offered his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These were incredibly generous four-finger whisky pours, traditionally gauged from little finger to index finger. Predictably, the English players partook excessively, leaving them extremely hungover and, inevitably, beaten the next day. Thus, the myth of the Patiala peg came to be.

This Punjabi spin on the old fashioned draws inspiration from that original concoction. Here, we present it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adapted the formula to make it better suited for a home kitchen.

The Patiala Peg Recipe

Makes 1 litre, serving 10-12 portions.

Ingredients

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

Instructions

Place everything in a large bottle. Pour in 130g water, stir thoroughly, then transfer it in the fridge. It will now keep for as long as 21 days.

When ready to drink, dispense roughly 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass containing ice (traditionally one large cube). Serve promptly. For a traditional touch, you could measure it in by hand for authenticity.