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Feature
Inside the first India Bartender Week
Three bar pioneers are set to invigorate India’s cocktail landscape with the introduction of India Bartender Week this month.
“It’s definitely one of the best times for the food-and-beverage scene here in India,” says Yangdup Lama, one of the driving forces behind India Bartender Week (IBW).
He would know, having nearly three decades’ experience in the Indian bar scene – and a reputation matched by those of his fellow co-founders, Minakshi Singh and Vikram Achanta, who have spent around 24 and 18 years in the industry respectively.
Lama and Singh are the brains behind Indian venues Sidecar, Cocktails & Dreams Speakeasy, and The Brook, while Achanta founded beverage-education service Tulleeho and 30 Best Bars India, which revealed its 2024 list last month. It has been a busy start to the year for Achanta, with IBW scheduled to take place from 20 to 27 February.
Modelled on New York Bartender Week, the event aims to celebrate the artistry of India’s bar scene while empowering bartenders. The name may be familiar to some of our US readers, who might have heard of New York Bartender Week, which debuted in 2024. The New York event was created by Hanna Lee and Michael Anstendig, whom Lama met in the city in 2023.
“Lee mentioned the idea of launching a Worldwide Bartender Week, and asked if India would partner. I immediately said yes,” explains Lama. “It was something we already had in our minds – we’ve had our fair share of experience, and we’ve seen how things have changed over the years. We’ve collectively reached the stage of saying: ‘OK, what next? How do we now take that learning forward and make it fruitful, constructive, and meaningful for the industry as a whole here in India?’”
IBW is split into two sections. The first, Beverage Week (21-25 February), will see 20 of India’s top bars showcase their creativity, with bespoke cocktails featuring local ingredients. Following that, the India Bar Summit (26-27 February), taking place in Gurgaon, will gather bartenders, hoteliers, industry leaders, and influencers for two days of panel discussions, masterclasses, product showcases, bar collaborations, and after-parties.
As with its New York sister, but unlike many cocktail and bar events, the week is specifically focused on the trade, rather than consumers. “India has had consumer-facing activities but nothing focused on the trade,” says Achanta. “The biggest challenge has been gaining trust in the concept from beverage brands and the bar community. The response has been extremely heartening.”
Brand flexibility
Beverage Week will offer much for drink enthusiasts. “Beverage Week will give our partner brands, as well as the bars, a consumer-facing element of the entire activity, wherein we can activate the bars and the brands through different formats,” says Achanta. “It could be a cocktail festival, an agave masterclass or a whiskey dinner. We’re leaving flexibility for the brands and the bars to see whatever might best fit from their perspective.”
The India Bar Summit will feature up to 40 seminars, panels, workshops and masterclasses. While it’s difficult to narrow down some of the highlights, Achanta picks out talks from Agustín Da Sambiagio and Dré Masso of Bali’s Potato Head about sustainability; Ajit Gurung from The Savory Project about savoury cocktails; and Andrew Davis from Coa Hong Kong on the mezcal mission. Unmissable workshops include a fermentation lesson from Payal Shah of the Kobo Fermentary and a spice masterclass from Hemant Pathak of New York’s Junoon and Jazba. Pathak, who is from India, was deliberately selected as an example of how the nation’s talent has succeeded on the world stage. Rohan Matmary of Kuala Lumpur’s Bar Trigona is another who has returned to inspire the growing talent of his home nation.
As well as highlighting the nation’s talent, the trio hopes IBW will spotlight Indian craft spirits and native ingredients. “India has so much to offer to the world when it comes to cocktail ingredients: interesting spices, herbs and botanicals,” explains Achanta. “Those ingredients can cross the boundary and feature in cocktail menus around the world.” He’s also hopeful about the rise of Indian craft spirits such as mahua and feni: “It will be great for us to take an inward look at the potential of our own larder, and further the boundaries of innovation when it comes to cocktails and mixology.”
The trio emphasise that the week is about the whole of India, not just Delhi. “When we say India, we need to bring the whole of India together,” says Lama. “When people from outside India look at India, they look at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore. But I see a great amount of excitement in tier-two and tier-three cities. The challenge is that while there is a great amount of consumer excitement, the industry is falling a little short in terms of talent, and in being able to bring in the right concepts. There’s a disconnect between tier-one and tier-two cities. A lot of our young bartenders aspire to come to bigger cities, but they don’t go back to their respective areas – but I think that’s about to change.”
That change will be aided by IBW. “With all that Vikram’s done on the ground with Tulleeho, we’ve been able to connect with people from near and far,” explains Lama. “It’s created a lot of excitement among the community. Everybody across the country is really excited.”
Travel grants
A key part of IBW is the Handshake Grant, which will fund travel and participation costs for at least 100 bartenders from smaller cities to attend the summit. To find the recipients, the event held roadshows around the country – when we talk at the start of January, they are taking place in Dehradun and Pune – with members of the team reaching out to local bartenders. “We’re looking at bartenders with a minimum of two to three years’ experience, so they can benefit properly from the exposure,” explains Achanta. Selection involves filling out a short form, with candidates asked how they think they would benefit from attending, with the IBW team selecting “the most deserving candidates selected on a pan-India basis”, says Achanta. “We’re looking at casting the net far and wide to get people from the furthest corners of the country.”
Representing a nation as large and diverse as India is no mean feat, but it seems the co-founders of IBW are putting in the work to do so, with aims to change perspectives around the world. “We want bartenders to have the same stature that chefs occupy currently in the global firmament,” says Achanta.
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