The ‘spirit’ butterfly effect | Unlike the ‘sober curious’ West, Indians are raising their glasses more now

A resilient economy, premiumisation, neighbourhood bars, and a surge of education and career prospects are all making India one of the fastest growing markets for alcoholic beverages

It’s a Sunday evening, and the bar is full. There are more women than men, unusual for India, where gender stereotypes and taboos have long defined social drinking. Everyone is dressed down, and instead of the crowded partying that marked nightlife of a generation (or even a few years) ago, here at Sidecar in Delhi’s GK II — recently anointed number 18 on Asia’s 50 best bars list — the conversations are calmer and the drinks sophisticated, such as my aged Boulvadier, carefully crafted to my taste.

Post pandemic, the idea of a night out in India is changing, with millennials and Gen Z preferring sophistication over shots, the quiet luxury of crafted cocktails, and dialled-down socialising with their own “tribe” even as the quality and price of what’s in their glass gets upped. “I don’t think anyone is like ‘where’s the party tonight’,” says Jigyasa Malhotra, 26, a travel blogger from Goa, who dabbles in interior design, cleans beaches and waterfalls on weekends, and has recently brought out a made-in-Goa spiced rum, India’s first. “Things have changed a lot in the last two to three years, even in Goa. Despite so many bars coming up, I think people just want to find a place with their vibe and tribe, and stick to it.”

The pandemic with its flexi work options and the idea of making the most of the time we have, seems to have pushed the trend of conscious socialising and smaller format “neighbourhood” bars. They are the new epicentres of a culture where work meets play meets passion — all over well-made craft drinks.

“People come even during the day, with their laptops, sit by the library, meet others, and have drinks suggested by our staff,” says bar expert Yangdup Lama of Sidecar, as we talk about the evolution in India’s bar culture from the late 1990s, when he started at the Hyatt.

Now, the wheel has come a full circle as India’s drinking culture moves towards more discernment and less show. “Anecdotally, this is a big trend,” says Yash Bhanage, co-founder of The Bombay Canteen, whose bar too featured on Asia’s best list this year. “People have been coming in twos and threes, and spending long hours at the bar. No one is rushing to grab drinks before heading to parties even on weekends.”

As India’s drinking culture reaches a new but sophisticated high, it’s not surprising to read the global numbers and realise how the country is also bucking global trends.

The country is one of the fastest growing markets for different categories of alcoholic beverages, while the world over, some of the most developed rich markets have been showing a decline in alcohol consumption. Health concerns and shifting lifestyles have led to Gen Z drinking less than the millennials, who drink less than Gen X and the Baby Boomers. Signs of this cultural shift started surfacing in 2018, when an influential report by Berenberg Research found Gen Z in the U.S. were drinking 20% less per capita than millennials.