In recent times, the presentation of cocktails has assumed as much significance as the plating of dishes. The presentation of a cocktail lends a 3D visual element and is a prelude to the actual drinking experience for the guest. Internationally, cocktails are very evolved and you’ll see a lot of botanical/vegetable cocktails in which fresh herbs/vegetable purees have been used to enhance flavour and visual appeal.
Thankfully, we are moving away from the mundane stirrer/umbrella and wedge of lime garnish! Foams, candied fruits and flowers are what bars here are toying with... Most are still obsessed with costings and perceive garnishes as unnecessary! However, the more confident bars have chosen to cater to the adventurous drinker and hence, they put a playful spin to everyday ingredients. This is a good trend as we are finally understanding our drinkers’ palates and re-introducing them to forgotten favourites!
Moving forward, bars will pick on this trend and apart from giving local ingredients a new spin, greater emphasis shall be given to flavour-specific presentation and garnishes. After all that’s what makes a good cocktail taste better!
At our bar, the whole ideology behind introducing fun and local palate-friendly cocktails was to do with our positioning, which is as a place with a friendly vibe. And being in the suburb of Juhu, we decided to reinvent the “familiar” from the beach nearby. We worked on concoctions like ‘Off the Street Gola’ and ‘Cotton Candy’ as they evoke nostalgia among patrons. We gave them a desi spin to add an innovative edge and that also helped us break the pattern of portraying cocktails as a more straitjacket offering.
Candyfloss concoction:
You’ll also find the desi-fication of cocktails in a sweet concoction called the “candyfloss cocktail”.
The drink is made of light rum, fresh lemon juice, raspberry-flavoured gomme (sweetener used in place of simple syrup in drinks) and celery bitters stirred and strained over candyfloss.
The cocktail takes shape in front of guests your server first places candyfloss in a glass and the rest of the ingredients are poured over it. The candyfloss melts and transforms in front of your eyes into a flavour some drink.
Gaurav Dabrai is the owner and F&B consultant of a popular Mumbai bar
