New year, new me, straight-up. That’s what I promise myself when Decembers come around, but it seems like yet another year has just whizzed by while I was taking one giant nap. Usually, lofty New Year resolutions rarely live up, but one thing every year flips 180-degrees on its head: from cutting down drinking to discovering amazing new booze and investing in it—fuck you for judging me, Dryanuary pros. The list down here has all the new spirits and brews coming out of our motherland that should be keeping our spirits up, even through a year that looks like it’s going to be shitty.
Proof gin, and a mahua liquor by Native Brews
Mumbai-based chartered accountant Susan Dias, who runs Native Brews, has spent the last couple of years researching and readying the recipe for a liquor derived from the indigenous mahua flower—a refined version of what is the drink of choice for tribal communities across central and western India. Also on the cards is a line of bitters, and a gin which will see largely local botanicals and other ingredients that carry a Geographical Indication (GI) tag. The earthy and floral Proof gin and the mahua-based drink will start off in Goa first.
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Simba Hefeweizen, and Craft Lager
We honestly can’t understand why beer brands are obsessed with animal and bird imagery, but this big cat has made huge strides since it launched earlier this year. While their Wit and Stout will enter Mumbai and Kolkata in the new year (currently available in Goa, Bengaluru, Delhi and Gurgaon), the craft beer brand—with its brewery in Bhilai in Chhattisgarh—is launching two new variants in 2019: A Hefeweizen (classic German wheat beer) and a craft lager (a craft take on the basic lager).
Rums, gins and vermouth by Third Eye Distillery
One of the best small-batch craft gins to have launched this year was Stranger & Sons—currently available in Goa and Mumbai. The distillery is soon launching other expressions of gins—Old Tom, cask-aged and Sloe—as also a silver rum, distilled from sugarcane rather than molasses. This one will be aged in indigenous barrels, and released 18 years later as a gold rum. A spiced rum is on the cards, as is a range of bitters and a vermouth. So. Much. Excitement.
Small-batch beers in cans by Arbor Brewing Company
Just this month, this Bengaluru star rolled out three (very good-looking) canned beers: An American wheat ale, an Indian Pale Ale, and a strong spiced ale. Though they’re only available in Goa for now (these Goa guys have all the luck, really), expect to find them on shelves in Bengaluru and Maharashtra soon. Keep an eye out for other special small-batch canned beer varieties as well.
Agave and mahua spirits by DesmondJi
Goa-based DesmondJi has taken the lead in bottling the spirit made from mahua, currently available as DJ Mahua and DJ Mahua Liqueur. 2019 will see an extension to this with DJ 100% Mahua (“the single malt of the mahua world,” founder Desmond Nazareth says), DJ Mahua Oak Finish (an oak-finished version of mahua) and DJ Sparkling Mahua. Also up ahead is the DJ Oak Barrel Aged (100% agave, oak barrel-aged for at least 18 months).
Spike and a lager by White Owl
At the start of this year, this Mumbai brewery came out with three bottled beers: Spark (a Belgian Wit with summery orange-citrus notes), Diablo (an Irish Red Ale, with hints of caramel), and Ace (apple cider ale). Joining the OGs will be Spike (a Strong Hefeweizen with hints of banana and clove, available in 500ml cans in Goa and Bengaluru first, followed by Mumbai, Pune and Delhi) as also a Munich lager (yet to be named), which will come in bottles and cans.
Zesty Amber beer by Kati Patang
We’re cheating a bit out here because though Kati Patang is a homegrown brand based out of Delhi, their beer is brewed in Bhutan. But we like the fact that the first beer that was put out by these guys just a couple of months ago is an unconventional first: An amber-gold ale brewed with Himalayan spring water and loaded with all-natural malts and hops. The bottles are currently available only in Delhi but expect to find them in Chandigarh by January-end, in Bengaluru by the summer of 2019, and in Mumbai by the end of the year. A new beer variant is on the cards too.
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