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

Folklore has it that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his team would win over a touring English squad. To gain the upper hand, he organized a grand party on the eve of the match, where he presented his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are notoriously large four-finger whisky pours, traditionally measured from little finger to index finger. As expected, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being terribly hungover and, inevitably, defeated the next day. And so, the myth of the Patiala peg originated.

This inspired variation of old fashioned draws inspiration from that original beverage. At the restaurant, we offer it from a specially crafted five-litre bottle, but we've adjusted the formula to make it more suitable for a household kitchen.

The Patiala Peg Recipe

Makes 1 litre, serving 10-12 people.

You Will Need

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

Preparation

Put all the ingredients in a large bottle. Include 130g water, mix until fully incorporated, then put it in the fridge. It will now keep for about 21 days.

For serving, pour roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a rocks glass packed with ice (preferably one large cube). Drink promptly. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.