Gin Comes Of Age In India

India welcomed its first artisanal gin Greater Than last year, as well as gin-focussed bars such as Toast & Tonic and PDA recently. The golden age of the silver liquid is finally upon us.

- Surekha Rao

IN THE 2000s, India’s drinking culture went through a rite of passage similar to that of adolescents: clubs across the country began serving vodka-based cocktails; whisky began to gain the attention of someone other than your father, and his father, and Old Monk and Coke began a cult. It was only in the following decade that multiple alcoholic beverages such as craft beer and home-infused spirits settled themselves on our bar shelves. In this space, the emergence of gin has taken everyone by mild, if expected, surprise.