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Shatbhi Basu: Indian Bartending Can Teach the West, Focus on Local Flavors
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Firstpost•21-09-2026, 17:35
Shatbhi Basu: Indian Bartending Can Teach the West, Focus on Local Flavors
- •Veteran mixologist Shatbhi Basu criticizes modern Indian bartending for over-reliance on Western trends, urging a focus on India's rich local ingredients and food culture.
- •Basu emphasizes that Indian palates differ from Western ones, advocating for cocktails tailored to local tastes rather than simply replicating international recipes.
- •She advises bartenders to start with the food menu and local ingredients to create drinks, allowing Indian and international flavors to coexist and inspire unique concoctions.
- •Basu highlights the importance of understanding why techniques are used, rather than blindly following trends like clarified cocktails, stressing that flavor and customer satisfaction are paramount.
- •She calls for improved bartending education in India, focusing on communication skills and fostering confidence in bartenders to leverage India's unique offerings and challenge Western perceptions of superiority.
Key Questions Answered
Shatbhi Basu criticizes modern Indian bartenders for becoming overly focused on global trends and Western palates instead of leveraging India's own rich food culture, local ingredients, and unique regional flavors.
Basu suggests that bartenders start by looking at the food menu to select local ingredients that create a natural connection between the food and the drinks, while understanding the specific preferences of their customers.
Basu is concerned that bartenders get bogged down by trends like clarification simply because they are fashionable, applying the technique without logic and potentially stripping away the texture, flavor, and original character of a drink.
