Cocktail bitters date back as far as the early 1800s. It’s well known that their purpose was originally medicinal, with Dr Johann Siegert developing the first aromatic bitters in Venezuela to aid troops suffering from malaria. In the 1870s, his three sons emigrated with their father’s recipe to Trinidad, where they developed the Angostura brand specifically for cocktails. Ever since then the Angostura recipe has…

Eleanor Yates meets Vikram Damodaran, chief innovation officer at Diageo India, in New Delhi to discuss the company’s ambitions Diageo India launched its first craft spirit, Godawan single malt whisky, in 2022, a project that was years in the making. But that was just the start. “If we truly want to put Indian craft spirits on the map, it’s not enough to just build one…

There’s a tendency in spirits writing to distil a category into a single talking point. You just don’t understand baijiu, armagnac is undervalued, and did you know how much cachaça is drunk in Brazil? For more contemporary examples see tequila and additives, bourbon and tariff s, vodka and the war in Ukraine. For pisco, it’s long been the Pisco Wars – the dispute between Chile…

Gin’s slow-down has been talked about for a while now, and with that naturally comes less of a demand for its partner in crime, tonic. While the G&T is still a popular serve and will no doubt remain so, tonic is seeking other options and showcasing itself as a versatile competitor in the mixer space, not just as a pairing for gin. This versatility comes…

Inside Alma, a former mid-century arthouse cinema in Prague, diners preface meals of grilled ox heart and black beer sauce-dressed carp with complex cocktails like the tequila-based Yarrow & Famous. Yarrow buds, their bitterness tamed by a salt fermentation, are steeped in a homemade pastis formula for a minimum of six months. Then, the liquid is married with pickled cherry water and tomato liqueur. Alma…

Del Maguey celebrated its 30th anniversary at a ceremony in Oaxaca. Now, 30 years is a ripe old age for an international mezcal brand and since its founding by California-based artist Ron Cooper and drinks industry polyglot Steve Olson, Del Maguey has played the role of Polaris as the category around it has morphed into something almost unrecognisable. “It’s unbelievably gratifying,” Steve Olson tells Drinks…

While France has cognac, Mexico has tequila and China has baijiu, India’s native spirit has been somewhat forgotten over the years – but that’s starting to change. Mahua – also known regionally as mahura, mhowra, mohua, mahuda, moha, madhuca and more – is distilled entirely from the flowers of the mahua (Madhuca longifolia) tree. Often categorised as a ‘tribal’ or ‘country’ liquor, a stigma rooted…