Is that curry leaf in my cocktail?

At the many shady dive bars dotting Bengaluru, a barfly is typically offered one of three standard free items to accompany their tipple. A liberal heap of pungent pickle (colloquially referred to as ‘touchings’), lime or mango served on a square sheet of old newspaper; a paper cone overflowing with puffed rice sautéed with crisp curry leaves and crunchy chana dal; or several mini tumblers of peppery rasam on demand.

Usually found in the grittier parts of the city, these flavours make a surprise appearance on the recently launched Temptations menu at the Virat Kohli-backed One8 Commune, in the form of a smoky, earthy, herbal cocktail called Packs a Punch. Award-winning mixologist Varun Sudhakar, who put together the bar programme at One8 Commune, created this drink to capture “the essence of rasam”. Through the perfect balancing of “smoky mezcal” and in-house concoctions of “aromatic, savoury sun-dried tomato water and the freshness of the coriander shrub”, Sudhakar, a two-time winner of the national Diageo Reserve World Class Competition, and title holder of ‘India’s Best Bartender’, managed to replicate this staple of South Indian bar culture with surprising authenticity. But let’s be clear: it isn’t rasam. It’s just an evocation of it.

Not too far away, at Asian restaurant, KOKO, another staple from an entirely different cuisine receives a similar alcoholic reimagining. The Tom Yum Cup, the restaurant chain’s most popular cocktail, melds galangal, lemongrass, lime, Thai chilli, and kaffir lime leaves in varying forms “to mirror the sensory experience” of the hot-and-sour dish. Like Sudhakar, Akash Singh, mixologist and beverage manager of the restaurant’s Mumbai and Bengaluru branches, conceived the cocktail to evoke “the top notes” of the soup.

Even if you like your drinks clean and are instantly suspicious of cocktail menus with weird infusions and ingredients, you cannot help but notice that the domination of sweet libations is over. Showing up on menus today are ingredient-forward savoury cocktails that are dialling back on the saccharine and taking the tippler to unexpected territory. Pantry staples like ginger, star anise, cardamom, clove, nutmeg, basil, lime, and saffron have been spiking our cocktails for years, but lately, a new horde of piquant kitchen ingredients are showing us that they, too, deserve a seat at the bar. Chillies like poblanos, capsicum, and jalapeños have paved the path for regional varieties like Byadgi, Kashmiri, Guntur, and bhut jolokia; and fruits like pomegranate and berries have made way for carrot, beetroot, gherkins, pumpkin, and even bitter gourd.

Bypassing the safe lines of a regular dirty martini or a Bloody Mary, today’s savoury cocktails rely on braver ingredients to take alcoholic alchemy to new, mouth-puckering heights. Indeed, when it comes to seasoning nowadays, anything goes: from bacon fat and parmesan to balsamic vinegar, from mushrooms to miso paste—even ghee is becoming something of a bar kit staple.

“We’re all learning to use ingredients and techniques outside of the obvious lexicon of bartending,” says Alex Sanchez, chef and co-founder of Mumbai’s Americano and Otra. “And we’re looking outside of bartending for our inspirations.” At his restaurants, this experimentation was born from the pursuit of zero waste. Here, mixologist Darren Crawford’s first order of business was to take a close look at the waste coming out of the kitchen. Cobs from shucked corn, artichoke leaves, and citrus fruit peels and rinds, which would usually get discarded, were transformed into artichoke liqueur or grapefruit-cello—“our riff on limoncello,” Sanchez explains.

At Temptations, even kitchen utensils have found a spot behind the bar counter. Sudhakar admits they often use a sous vide machine to create their drinks. “Previously, with pandan leaves, for example, we’d take 12-15 hours to extract a cooked and cloudy liquid, and then clarify it,” he explains. “With the sous vide, we achieve a green, jewel-coloured liquid without overcooking the leaf.” The result? A truer flavour of this herby leaf in a cocktail, plus room for small-batch experiments by the mixologist.

The trend also reflects a collapse between cuisine and cocktail, though that is not to say that these drinks will replace your dinner. “Of course, there is a move towards embracing more savoury ingredients for cocktails because the blurring of the lines between kitchen and bar is happening more and more, of late,” confirms Manu Chandra, founder and partner of Manu Chandra Ventures, which runs the restaurant Lupa and high-end catering service Single Thread. He, in fact, believes this may be the future of Indian mixology. Recently, while judging the national finals of the Diageo Reserve World Class Competition, Chandra “found it very nice to see that almost all of the bartenders were using salt and saline solutions” in their cocktail preparations. For him, this renewed attention to an essential kitchen ingredient shows that “bartenders have woken up to the fact that salt is a flavour enhancer” for both dishes and drinks. “The moment a few drops of saline water are added to a cocktail, it brings out the flavours a lot better, even if it is sweet,” he explains.

This progression in the F&B industry has made mixology an attractive career for the out-of-the-box creative. Take, for example, Saurav Samanta, who went from a management programme at the Oberoi group to working behind the bar at KOKO. Today, he is the beverage manager for Luna Hospitality, which is known for establishments like The Second House in Goa, Pune’s Tsuki, and The Daily All Day in Mumbai and Pune. “I enjoyed this new chance at creativity,” he says, expressing that he likes to be up to date with the latest trends in cocktail creation. When he learnt about milk-washing and sustainable garnishes trending at some of the world’s best bars, he began applying a similar process to limited batches of customised cocktails for the regulars at his bar. At The Second House, he marries two classic cocktails for his bestselling drink, the Paloma Meets Picante, “which perfectly balances a fizzy, sour cocktail with a grapefruit- and jalapeño-infused one.”

Samanta’s experiments have been recognised in lists like World’s 50 Best Bars and Asia’s 50 Best Bars, as well as other prestigious awards. For him, such experimentation is the driving force behind India’s thriving bar culture and its increasingly discerning patrons. However, he cautions, “Modern bar menus, much like their cocktails, must be balanced, reflecting both the classics and in-house experimentation”. Which is to say that sweeter, fruitier cocktails aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon. “Long live the Long Island Iced Tea and its ilk,” says Chandra, but he is quick to clarify that savoury cocktails too will be the norm. It’s like an added layer that any bar or restaurant can mould to its identity. Because at any fun bar, there will always be people on a budget trying to get smashed; and others, thirsty for something new.