Bye, olives. Cocktails today come with a tiny little treat

There was a time when a cocktail garnish—typically a twist of citrus, a lonely olive or a shrivelled umbrella—was an afterthought, a polite nod to festivity.

That time is gone. 

Now by the time your cocktail reaches the table, you’re not scanning the glass for clarity or colour. You’re left eyeing what’s dangling off the rim or lodged in that iceberg of an ice cube. Is it a garnish? A snack? A side dish? Superman? 

At Paradox, Mumbai’s buzziest new bar, the garnish is more provocation than adornment. “A garnish should matter,” explains Ankush Gamre, head mixologist at Paradox. “If it must sit on your glass, it shouldn’t be there just to look pretty. It should elevate the drink.” When you can score a table at the bar (a reservation is hard won at Paradox), ask for the Prodigal Son, a cocktail of tequila, amaretto, quince, and mango ginger crowned with a mini crunchy waffle cone packed with popcorn and vanilla-flavour-soaked tapioca pearls. It’s a cocktail with dessert aspirations: Alternate a sip with a bite, shut your eyes, and see if it conjures the feeling of tucking into an ice cream tub.

In case it wasn’t clear, the cocktail garnish has entered its main-character era. The garnish doesn’t just flirt with your senses—it also takes them to dinner. And maybe a show after. It’s no longer satisfied with being just a sprig of mint or a citrus peel twist. Today, that precariously balanced bite might be a seaweed-salted banana crisp, a pickled smoked edamame, or smoked salmon tartlet. It’s no longer just ornamentation or a missable cameo—it’s a delicious co-star. 

For new-age mixologists like Gamre, it isn’t just a flourish but a creative and cerebral flex. Garnishes are becoming edible showpieces, a mixologist’s signature, and the surprise element that ties a drink together.

In Bengaluru, Asian restaurant and bar Muro has been belting out the Dirty Ceviche, a cocktail meant to echo the freshness of its namesake—it pairs shrimp vodka and gin with a michelada chaser and a smoked salmon tartlet. It’s a drink. It’s a dish. It’s a whole damn event.

Sahil Ehsani, Muro’s beverage manager, pores over Spanish chef Ferran Adria’s food philosophy and Niki Segnit’s popular compendium The Flavour Thesaurus for inspiration. It’s no wonder their cocktail menu reads like a culinary brief. “We’re consciously tapping into the synergy between the bar and the kitchen,” explains Ehsani.

Muro’s umami-intense Sweet Chin Music is proof of this approach. It riffs on the savoury brilliance of kombu and shiitake and comes paired with coconut mousse piped elegantly onto a crisp lavash. It’s smart, high-concept stuff. The bite heightens the drink; the drink craves the bite. The entire experience is engineered to keep you circling—sip, bite, sip again. And before you know it, you’re ordering a second round. Not for the cocktail, but for whatever’s clipped to the rim of it and lately even showcased on its own dish.

In a few weeks, you can taste peak culinary cross-pollination at Mumbai bar Slink & Bardot, where the upcoming cocktail menu is modelled after a six-course tasting, deliberately blurring the line between bar and kitchen. The ‘soup’ course? A cool, vegetal gazpacho in cocktail form, served with a bite-sized tomato-basil tart. Chef’s kiss? It’s more than that — it’s a bartender’s coup.

Everywhere you look, drinks are topped with thoughtful accoutrements. Ductape, a ‘hero’ cocktail at Paradox, comes with single malt, banana pandan, and caramel tea, and a banana fry as garnish—a crunchy bite coated with seaweed salt. It’s designed to enhance the banana-forward flavour of the drink. 

These aren’t drinks so much as dissertations. In Goa, the team at After Dinner is rethinking rum, coffee, and what a nightcap can be. Their clarified coffee sour, made with Plantation Pineapple Rum and coconut concentrate, comes with a house-baked tiramisu biscuit with orange zest for texture, drama, and a layering of flavours. “I want my cocktails to be future proof, something you can drink and eat,” says Harsh Panya, the lead bartender. His clarified coffee sour began as an experiment, became a spectacle, and now functions almost as a stand-in for dessert. 

If drinks are becoming dinner, Gaijin, Mumbai’s hip new Japanese restaurant and bar, is happy to serve. Their cocktail In a Pickle, a savoury mix of Don Julio, fermented cucumber, shiitake brine, and yuzu kosho, is served with a crunchy pickled salad on the side. One is never quite sure where the drink ends and the garnish begins—and that’s the point.

It takes time, effort, and a wellspring of imagination to turn each drink into a plated course. And for the few pushing this trend forward, the garnish is no longer decorative—it’s declarative. Also, let’s be honest: when your cocktail crosses the ₹1,000 threshold, a little snack is very welcome.