7 Cocktails Worth Travelling For In India

To say India is having a moment with cocktails would be stating the obvious. What is probably not so well-documented is the sheer variety across different parts of the country beyond the usual suspects of Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, where you are guaranteed a good time, but only if you know where to go. 

With that in mind, here are seven cocktails, from Amritsar to Goa to Chennai to Shillong and everywhere in between, you must try on your next visit to these cities. Take notes because some of these are not your regular spots.

1. Amritsar: Lassi At Roots By Tepah 

Amritsar’s latest bar opening has a quintessential local connection on its cocktail menu with the Lassi. A boozy treat that combines vodka with rosewater, citric and tartaric acids, grated lime and curd, this cocktail represents Punjab like no other drink can. It is slightly sweet, unmistakably strong and eminently drinkable at any time of the day. 

2. Goa: Anar At Anar 

Hidden quietly amidst louder places along the Assagaon to Anjuna stretch lies a quiet oasis of peace called Anar. Named after the pomegranate fruit, this Middle Eastern diner’s cocktail menu also features the fruit in abundance. 

Their signature cocktail, Anar, named after the restaurant, features the most interesting use of pomegranate molasses you can expect to find. By swapping Campari with pomegranate molasses along with gin and vermouth, this cocktail is bound to leave you spellbound with its inspired take on a classic Negroni.

3. Chennai: Shanta At Sundays

Karthik Kumar- helmed Sundays probably features one of the most underrated cocktail menus in the country. Featuring Navarasa’s, the menu has nine cocktails themed after different human moods such as love, joy, anger, surprise, etc. The cocktail that captured our emotions was the Shanta, a complex, spirit-forward tropical drink with dark rum, passionfruit, pineapple and lime that is clarified with a hint of blue curacao to give the cocktail its signature blue-green colour. Served on an LED coaster, this drink literally lights itself up and commands your attention. “The idea was to bring peace and reflection in this chaotic world with Shanta,” Kumar says.

4. Shillong: Krypo Tzu At Shad Skye

If you thought the North East was cocktail wilderness, we would urge you to get to Shad Skye in Shillong, located in the heart of the city at Police Bazaar. The bar ranked at #48 in this year’s edition of 30 Best Bars, and it's easy to see why. 

The cocktail menu, themed around the North Eastern states, features local ingredients that you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. Combine them with your favourite spirit and you have a winner on your hands. We recently tried the Krypo Tzu, which champions tiny wild apples found in Nagaland. The team makes a fruit wine out of the apples and combines it with wild basil and Bacardi white rum for a spirit-forward yet refreshing Martini-style cocktail. “This drink is experimental but also one of our bestsellers at Shad Skye,” Rishot Laloo, Head Mixologist of the bar, says.

5. Gurgaon: Maggi Point At The Brook

Mountain trips and Maggi are an unbeatable combination. But when the mountains aren’t calling you, you can still get your Maggi fix at The Brook, a Himalayan bar with Maggi Point that features Maggi masala as an ingredient. Mixed with Himalayan honey, pea water, fresh tomatoes and tequila, this drink is best described as nostalgia in a glass. The bar is run by the same team as Sidecar in Delhi, one of the most awarded bars in the country, so you can be rest assured the Maggi masala isn’t there just as a gimmick.

6. Kolkata: Floats Your Boat At Conversation Room 

If there’s one city whose cocktail boom in recent times has been outstanding in every aspect, it has to be Kolkata. Conversation Room is one of the newest bars in the city with a cocktail program by the Countertop India team led by veteran bar hand Pankaj Balachandran. The space exudes fun, and so do its cocktails, with the Floats Your Boat standing out for its throwback to the Coke Float days of the late '90s and early 2000s. 

Made with a combination of blended Scotch, Jagermeister, ginger honey and clarified with vanilla ice cream, it might sound boozy but is one of the easiest easy drinks on the menu. “People always think this will be a super strong drink, but it’s a smooth three-sip cocktail. It’s definitely a must-try and one of our star drinks,” bartender Sarbani Mukherji says.

7. Pune: Beach Day At Nanna’s Negroni

Pune’s latest culinary hotspot features drinks by Cocktails of Tomorrow, the team that put the city on the map with Cobbler & Crew. At Nanna’s Negroni, the Beach Day comes highly recommended with this writer’s best friend promising to brave the Mumbai–Pune traffic just to have this drink once again. A refreshing summer drink featuring gin, pineapple, strawberry, truffle oil and Martini Bianco and served with parmesan cheese and olives, this is the kind of cocktail you will easily go back for seconds and thirds. You’ve been warned!