Cheers to fruity cocktails

How about raising your spirits with a watermelon martini, mango daiquiri, mojito or a green apple caipiroska? Or some Malta oranges muddled into vodka large or red wine sangria with peach, orange and grapes? If the scorching heat is making you go slow on alcohol, pep things up with some fresh, cool fruit cocktails being served at several bars across the city.

“Fruits add a refreshing feel to alcohol and act as thirst quenchers in this summer heat,” says mixologist and beverage consultant, Shatbhi Basu. She feels that Indians prefer seasonal fresh fruit juice vis-a-vis that which comes in Tetra Pak, common in the West. If this freshness can be added to their alcohol without jeopardising its taste, it is a healthy welcome for their palate.

“Nowadays bars use of a lot of seasonal fruits ranging from mangoes to pineapples to coconut, along with coolants like cucumber, yoghurt and mint for preparing the cocktails as they make the drink interesting, refreshing and something one can enjoy for long,” says Basu. Fresh fruits like mango, melons, pineapple, apple, strawberry and pear are combined with mint, herbs and spices.

The most ordered at Tote, the restaurant-cum-bar at the Turf Club in Mahalaxmi, and at the Indigo restaurant in Colaba are the gooseberry martini and the sour passion, says Greg D’souza, corporate beverage manager, deGustibus Hospitality, which manages Indigo, Indigo Deli, Indigo Café, Tote and The Moveable Feast. At all these places, one can get fresh fruit cocktails like watermelon martini, cherry and pineapple muddle, green apple muddle, sangria, kiwi margarita, raw mango margarita, and not to forget the favourites — sour passion and gooseberry martini.

“Fresh fruits and juices lend a nice aroma to the alcohol and definitely a good body to the drink,” feels D’souza, who adds that the Indian guests being fruit lovers by nature, even like to bite into fruit pieces at the end of the drink just to feel good for having had something healthy even while drinking.

The liquors that complement juices best are vodka, tequila, gin and white rum; plenty of ice, sugar, lime and mint do the trick. Some other spirits that do well for making cocktails are grappa, gold rums and red vermouths.

So nimbu paani with lime juice, sugar, soda and vodka or a raw mango drink martini with mango pulp blended with plenty of ice, roasted cumin powder and tequila; a coconut water and lychee juice with gin or vodka; or a champagne bellini, can be just the drinks you’d want to unwind with after sweating it out in the sun.

“The simpler the ingredients, the better the drink,” feels Basu.

At the Taj President’s bar, Wink, one can enjoy a range of its famous Winktinis, several of which are made with fresh fruits; or the Chaitini, a tea infusion with vodka, lime juice, sugar. Or you can go for a variety of fruit cocktails like lychee martini (lychee juice, vodka, ginger), Forbidden Apple (whisky, fresh crushed green apples, hazelnut syrup and lime juice), the cucumber sake martini (Japanese rice wine with cucumber, vodka, lime and sugar), the pomegranate martini, or the watermint martini, says bar consultant and mixologist, Wink, Jiri Majerik.

With mangoes flooding the market, Wink soon plans to add cocktails using mangoes to their menu. As is the case with The Four Seasons Hotel’s rooftop bar, Aer, which has got into the summer mood with mango martini — mango muddled with vodka and lime juice, which is quite a hit. Then you have the mango margarita at Indigo and the mango martini at Tote.

Some interesting fruit cocktails, like Whiff, a drink comprising fresh pears, cloves, lychee juice and vodka, the Sunset Worli made with watermelon juice, basil leaves and vodka or the strawberry martini with fresh strawberries and vodka are quite in demand at Aer, informs bartender Kevin Oommen.
Also popular at Indigo, Indigo Deli and Tote, are the raw mango margarita, the Malta orange and rosemary muddle with a large vodka, the BBC (Bailey’s Banana Colada) and the kiwi daiquiri.
While canned fruit juices or those available in Tetra Pak lend a certain consistency to cocktails, and one can be sure of its taste each time one orders, the fresh fruit juices lend a distinct aroma, taste and refreshing feel that is unmatchable, especially during summers, feel Basu and D’souza.
d_sujata@dnaindia.net