In Kolkata, new bars are incorporating modern techniques and unusual ingredients like gobindo bhog rice and mushrooms into cocktails

In Kolkata, new bars are incorporating modern techniques and unusual ingredients like gobindo bhog rice and mushrooms into cocktails

In Kolkata, bars are old school. A surge of new openings flaunt shiny, chic interiors, but are set in century-old colonial buildings.

At 60 Chowringhee, a Burma teak staircase from the 1880s runs along the length of the building. While this is essentially still an office building with staid wooden walls, a flight of stairs leads you to a blood red wall with a blood red door that reads: “Dear, you made it through that tipsy world”.

This is Little Bit Sober, a new bar that welcomes you with its boat shaped blue bar counter, with striking red, black and white stools. Smiling bartenders drop by to ask you how your day has been, what your mood is like, and if you would like your spirit to be fizzy, citrusy, sour... “We are not limited to our cocktail menu. You name it, we make it,” says Mohammad Shahbaz, general manager and chief bar master, billing the place as a bartender’s bar.

“There’s new interest in watching bartenders. The bar stools are the most popular place and our highest sales come from the people sitting there,” says Chirag Punwani, who started Little Bit Sober with Rudradipta Mukherjee. When they launched this 68-seater space in June this year, their primary focus was cocktails. “The idea was to build a cocktail culture. We are drink-focussed first and then food. But in India that doesn’t work, so we levelled up our food,” says Chirag.

The menu features 12 cocktails and they call it the poet edition as the description for each drink is in the form of a four-five line poem. The plan is to introduce a new cocktail menu every three months. Unexpected local ingredients such as sandesh, gobindo bhog rice, Jharna ghee and nolen gur are spun into cocktails like Sondesh Cardamom, Honey Toast, and Nolen Coffee.

While Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru have a thriving cocktail scene, people in Kolkata are fairly conservative, believes Shahbaz. “In their mind, a cocktail is a mix of sugar syrup and three or four juices. That’s not how it is anymore. There is a lot of R&D and thought being put into our drinks,” he says, adding that they are using modern techniques that elevate the cocktails.

“Through sous vide, we infuse ingredients precisely, ensuring rich and flavorful blends. Fat washing adds a unique twist by infusing spirits with delicious fats like local ghee or butter and virgin coconut oil, enhancing taste and texture. Employing clarification methods, we achieve crystal-clear cocktails that are visually stunning and delightful to savour. Finally, we’re working on barrel ageing cocktails that grant our concoctions complexity and depth, as they mature in oak barrels, creating truly exceptional drinking experiences,” Shahbaz offers a few examples.