Peg (unit)

A peg is a unit of volume, typically used to measure amounts of liquor in the Indian subcontinent.

Equal to 60 ml, the terms "large peg" and "small peg" are also used,[1] equal to 90 ml and 30 ml, respectively, with "peg" alone simply referring to a 60 ml peg.

The Indian term "Chota" is cometimes added, meaning "small", such as "have a chota peg of whisky". [2] This was often used by the 1940s mythical British Indian Army figure "Colonel Chinstrap" in the UK Radio Serial "ITMA" ("It's That Man Again"[3]) who was frequently having Chota Pegs (and sounded like it in his deliberately slurred speech).

The unit is most likely derived from the imperial fluid ounce (approximately 28.4 ml) during the time of the British Raj, and for the sake of convenience was later standardised to 60 ml. Informally, a peg is also understood to be a single shot of any alcoholic drink.

In India, liquor's alcohol content is typically 42.8% ABV. It then follows that a peg of liquor usually contains 12.84 ml of pure alcohol, roughly equal to 1.3 alcoholic units.