Lord of the drinks: Mixologists are taking cocktails to new highs in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: The winner of a prestigious cocktail-mixing competition this year from India was 25-year-old Vedant Mehra from Bengaluru, who won the top spot for his innovative ‘Limitless’ – a rum-based cocktail made with a surprise ingredient — banana peel syrup. Mehra will now represent India in Amsterdam later this month in a 42-country competition. While mixologists in the city are stirring up a storm in the glass, beer-loving Bengalureans are also giving cocktails a try. And while safe bets like mojitos, caprioskas and pina coladas are still popular, there is a demand for more, spiking the demand for mixologists, say industry experts.

According to Shreyas Patel, cofounder of Bootlegger in Ashok Nagar, in the last two years, there’s been a palpable shift towards cocktails since people are well-travelled and want to move beyond the tried and tested. “It’s important to have a mixologist who will craft great cocktails and it is even more important for owners to know what will sell. There aren’t many mixologists in the city to begin with, but that’s slowly changing. Customers are even ordering off-the-menu cocktails,” he says.

Mehra, whose banana peel cocktail came out of his aim to tackle kitchen waste, is a popular number at Bootlegger. The syrup is made by scooping out the inner white rind of the banana peel, mixing it with water and reducing it to a syrup. “There’s a natural sweetness with a hint of bitterness in the syrup that makes it stand out,” Mehra says. The cocktail uses Bacardi Gold rum, martini rosso, which is a sweet vermouth, the syrup and bitters.

International competitions also make for great learning experiences as does travelling the world, Mehra, who trained at a mixology academy in Las Vegas, points out.

Mixologist Rohan Matmary’s creation, the Lillionaire — which has also won awards — is one such inspired by several international trends and has its own story. The drink uses Jack Daniel’s whisky with Absinthe, egg white and hibiscus grenadine for a fresh, floral twist. “Every cocktail is created for a reason. It was L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt who inspired mine. This drink is my ode to women,” Matmary says. He points out that the perception that cocktail is a ‘ladies’ drink’ is changing. “There is so much variety and innovation in this area that no one wants to miss out on the trend. While the cocktail culture is yet to explode in India, it is on the right track.”

One reason why cocktails are not as popular as beer in Bengaluru, Matmary says, is because of the value-for-money proposition, as cocktails are generally heavy on the pocket. Safdar Adoor, partner at Hangover, however, says it’s unfair to measure cocktails in terms of value for money. “A beer drinker will never find a cocktail worth his money, no matter how well it is made or how potent it is because of the stark price difference. But drinking a cocktail is an experience, unlike other regular spirits.”