Come summers and we all devise a beat-the-heat mechanism, and routinely go looking for rehydrating drinks that can help make the season more tolerable. While traditional drinks like Shikanji, Lassi, Aam Panna, or the variety of icy alcoholic beverages never go out of style, it is always a good idea to try out new mixes. This time around, cafés in the city have introduced specially-crafted summer beverage menus, adding a twist to conventional drinks and creating various original ones. Listed here are the venues offering such diverse alcoholic and non-alcoholic refreshing drinks to deal with the heat wave.
Molecule
SCO 53, Sector 29, Gurugram
Residing in the party hub Gurugram, this air bar provides an offbeat experience, starting from the bunker-style décor pertaining to World War II, to the camouflage attire of the servers. As for their summer specials, Molecule has its own microbrewery and has concocted special brews with fresh flavours for this summer. On their original brews, Manish Sharma, owner of Molecule says, “Molecule being a big believer of ‘Made in India’, always tries permutations and combinations with brews, so brewer through his experiments has introduced some new flavours which no one has tried earlier.” One can try their fusion beers constituting fruits like blueberry, strawberry, peach, mango and melon in addition to locally sourced chocolate stout, paan- and cinnamon-flavoured brews. The venue also offers original Milk Shake Beer and home-infused liquor along with cocktails like Molecular Mojitos, Alien Brain Hemorrhage, Cotton Candy, Bohemian cocktails, White Sangria in Suspension and more.
Mealodrama
A-6, Vishal Enclave, Rajouri Garden, New Delhi
The modern bistro welcomes its customers with a warm ambience and a contemporary feel. To help you beat the scorching sun this summer, they have introduced a delectable summer special menu. Talking about the same, Rahul Sawhney, founder of Mealodrama says, “We, at Mealodrama always make sure to add drama to your food and drinks. The summer is all about fun and nostalgic drinks.” The new drinks include cocktails like Dramatic—a vodka orange marmalade with cinnamon topped with orange juice; and Beat the heat—a concoction of seasonal fruits and Indian spices among others. Also on offer you are the raved-about classic cocktails—Sex on the Beach, Cosmopolitan, Mealodrama LIIT, Sangria, Daiquiri and Bloody Mary. Apart from this, they have incorporated seasonal fruits like mango, litchi, strawberry etc. in their non-alcoholic beverage servings.
Gray Global Kitchen and Bar
N-8, N Block Market, Greater Kailash 1, New Delhi
This fine dining venue with outdoor and rooftop seating is popular for its array of delicious food items. Coming to the variety of beverages one can find here, the segment that catches the eye is the Gray Signatures including cocktails like Oaxaca, Night Hawks, The Dancers Reward, Osborne House, Postcard Row, Rainbow Lava, Motivation and more. Explaining the process, Rajesh Mohan, one of the Founders of Gray Global Kitchen says, “Well trained mixologists at Gray have tried to take your cocktail experience away from the ordinary, by using multiple bitters, homemade syrups, freshest fruits, herbs, veggies, dehydrated fruits etc.” Other interesting options are enlisted under Wine & Bubbly cocktails, including specials like Kir Royal, Crystal Sangria, Bellini, Mimosa etc. Their beverage specialties also include Reflection of clouds and Cool as Cucumber.
Nukkad Café and Bar
C 23-24, SDA Market, New Delhi
In order to beat the heat, Nukkad has introduced amazing alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The café has a vibrant and welcoming décor and their improvised menu serves the palates of all. Kanishk Tuteja, founder of Nukkad talks about the innovations in their drinks menu. “For all the LIIT lovers out there, we have Matka LIIT which, as the name suggests is served in a matka and has a great flavour of aam panna with vodka, tequila, rum, gin and triple sec in it. For beer lovers—and beer is the most ordered drink in the summer—we have specially curated some beer cocktails. Corona Ghotala is one of the great cocktails we are offering. We are also doing Sharabi Chuskis, in which the guests can choose their choice of alcohol and flavour,” he says. As for mocktails, they have the widely loved Rooh Afza Sharbat, Orange n Chilli Chatkara among many more.
Local
11, KG Marg, Scindia House, Connaught Place, New Delhi
Located in the heart of the city, Local is a booming café because of its unmistakably soothing vibe. Having recently launched the summer cocktail menu, Umang Tewari, owner of Local, says: “Local is my ode to my fondness for Delhi. Being a true Delhi-ite, Local brings forward the mood of Delhi on the front, and our summer cocktail menu exactly reflects the same. Our special drinks include Delhi Green Park—a solid combination of gin, lime juice, sugar syrup, egg white topped with basil leaves, CP Smash is a mix of vodka, elderflower, lime juice, mint leaves and tonic water with green apple made into a fruity and refreshing cocktail. We also have Local Mary, which is vodka with lime juice, Worcestershire and Jaljeera mix topped with Tabasco to give you a desi Bloody Mary infused with the taste of spices and more. The inspiration behind the drinks is Delhi’s undying spirit. We have used local ingredients to make the drinks, and they are named after famous locations.”
Pra-Pra Prank
Cyber Hub, Sector 24, DLF Cyber City, Gurugram
This quirky and colourful brasserie gushes of providing an unusual experience to its guests. For the summer, they have fashioned all sorts of drinks to quench your thirst. Inderjeet Singh Banga, owner of Pra Pra Prank, highlights what they are offering. He says, “We have some fabulous uplifting fruit cocktails, ultra-chilled beer and our signatures. The all-new cocktail menu also includes Japanese Negroni with a twist of Japanese ingredients like sesame oil, gari and yuzu lemon. Our version of classic Negroni is inspired by a very famous perfume called Chanel No. 9 that has fresh basil and rose and elderflower. Then we have Early Morning Gin Sour, a cocktail that has all the breakfast elements in it, like earl grey tea infused with gin, lavender and some orange marmalade. There’s also Sparkling South Side, a summery cocktail with gin mixed up with fresh cucumber, mint lemon and topped up with sparkling wine which will refresh you right with the first sip.”