Add warming ingredients to your cocktail in this wet weather

Bartenders and mixologists are ensuring that the cocktails they concoct this season have an uplifting effect on not just your mood, but on your ability to fend off colds and sore throats as well.

Ginger, cinnamon, cloves and orange peels are just some of the ingredients that Mumbai’s Cheval is incorporating in its drinks for the monsoon. “Ginger helps with a bad throat and congestion, honey brings down a dry cough, cloves act as an anti-inflammatory agent and are a good source of Vitamin K and orange peel, for Vitamin C,” says partner Sunny Sara. Patrons may even taste some cayenne pepper (“it’s a good anti-flu and cold agent”) and cinnamon in their drinks here.

Cinnamon, citrus fruits, honey and even coffee are popular ingredients in cocktails during the monsoon, agrees Rishi Kumar, the F&B manager of Vivanta by Taj President, Mumbai. “A lot of our guests prefer to order warm cocktails in keeping with the monsoon spirit. Cognac, whiskey and bitter-based cocktails are much in demand,” Kumar says.

For more experimental tipplers, Kumar says they offer fusion cocktails like the “Rasam Mary” — “a South Indian twist on the Bloody Mary, prepared with tamarind and coriander infused tomato rasam, along with 320-year-old Ketel vodka”. The use of wasabi and ginger gives a twist to the usual martini, while pre-heated glasses keep drinks warm for longer.

Classic warming drinks, however, continue to have their share of fans. “Hot toddies made with brandy or rum are very popular among our patrons, especially if they’re suffering from a cold or sore throat,” says Satish Fernandes, executive assistant F&B manager at the Sun N Sand Hotel. “Citrus juices with ginger beer also warm you up instantly.”