The Rise Of The Cocktail Lab
In the country’s most inventive bars, the backroom now looks more like a laboratory
In the country’s most inventive bars, the backroom now looks more like a laboratory.
Shelves lined with tinctures, vacuum-sealed botanicals and labelled infusions indicate a quiet revolution. Part science and part meditative, mixologists are using their lab space to prep, craft, sous-vide infusions, fat-wash, rotary evaporate or rotovap and everyone’s favourite, the current buzzword, clarify.
The rise of the cocktail lab is real.
This revolution literally started with Home, Delhi’s lab in 2021, followed by PCO. And while some bars have just entered the ring, a few are already in 2.0 phase. “We’ve moved beyond techniques like sous vide or fat washing. Our focus is more advanced extraction methods using ultrasonic waves, centrifugation, and homogenization. These allow us to pull out extremely clean, precise flavours that are otherwise difficult to achieve,” says Navjot Singh, Head of Bar Operations, Lair Delhi.
We look at bars whose labs are creative crucibles of activity and what’s coming out from there.
Renaissance Goa
The beverage forwardedness of the brand has percolated into the hotel, quite literally. Much of the prep in the lab mirrors a professional kitchen. Techniques such as fat-washing, sous-vide infusions, tinctures, house ferments, cordials, clarified juices and aroma extractions are routine. Some processes take hours, others stretch over days, and much of this work happens after service, at night, allowing the bar team to prioritise hospitality when guests arrive.
Cocktail in focus: Peel & Turmeric embodies a sustainability-forward philosophy. Turmeric-infused whisky is paired with banana peel saccharum, with careful calibration of citrus, bitters and salinity to achieve a gently spiced profile that feels both comforting and unexpected.
Slink & Bardot, Mumbai
Their new, dedicated R&D space needs a few more final touches. But, will they be open to guests watching? “Very much so, once completely ready. We actually encourage it. If someone’s curious, we’d love pulling the curtain back,” says Head Mixologist, Guruprasad Tripathy. The R&D space sits in Koliwada, a neighbourhood layered with maritime history and story, lending to Slink & Bardot, that definitive character.
Cocktail in focus: Dava Daru is a Konkan-rooted cocktail interpreted through modern technique. Built with cashew feni, ripe mango and cumin, it undergoes nitro cryo filtration, a process that removes the craggy edges while retaining the drink’s aromatic character and is strikingly clean and savoury.
Bar Doubble, Bengaluru
Chef Kavan Kuttappa of Naru fame and mixologist, Vedant Mehra seem to be having a lot of fun at their long awaited, much talked-about new bar. Their R&D lab is inside the kitchen, corroborating the fact that this collab between bar and kitchen is a thing.
Cocktail in focus: Plum It features bourbon sous-vide with plum to create an in-house plum whisky, which is then combined with slow-roasted hojicha tea to form the base of a refined whisky highball. The blend is force-carbonated, resulting in a lively expression of the drink.
The Lab at Amaraanth, Goa
This place operates as Countertop’s dedicated R&D space that feeds into multiple verticals; consulting projects, ready to drink cocktails like Jerry’s, their bars, and also functions as a unique drinking room in itself. “We host curated experiences where guests can enter the ecosystem of the lab, join foraging-led programs, watch those ingredients transform into liquid, and also learn from our hands-on cocktail-making sessions that give insights into how drinks are conceptualised and built from scratch,” shares Pankaj Balachandran, the force behind it all.
Cocktail in focus: Red Amaraanth, is a delicious, savoury medley of pickled gin, vermouth and red amaraanth, a staple local vegetable.
Nutcase, Kolkata
The lab space here is a bustling beehive of activity and the menu is prep-intensive. Most ingredients are made in-house, ranging from cheong, tinctures, cordials and vinegars to brines, pickles and house liqueurs crafted from plum, papaya and pandan. They produce their own black garlic for a black garlic-honey syrup and a cashew orgeat for a dessert cocktail inspired by kheer. The menu also highlights savoury cocktails shaped by culinary methods, such as bone marrow fat-washed bourbon, charred tomato salsa elements, and coffee oil fat-washed vodka for an espresso martini.
Cocktail in focus: Sushi is a cocktail inspired by India’s growing affection for Japanese flavours. Built with nori-infused sake, gin, gari cordial and a hint of mirin, it is served with a touch of wasabi on the rim. It was among the most extensively refined drinks during the menu’s R&D phase and is a junta favourite.
Oxymorons, Hyderabad
Lab by day. Bar by night. This is not just their tagline, but the ethos. During non-service hours, the bar becomes an R&D floor where techniques are honed, components developed, and countless ideas tested. The process is rigorous and obsessive, defined by constant tasting, debate, recalibration and starting over. Guests typically encounter only the polished result, but for the curious, occasional visits during off-hours are welcomed.
Cocktail in focus: Only Option is centred on Patrón tequila and conceived in pursuit of lightness and freshness. Watermelon and amaraanth were trialled through multiple iterations to achieve a rounded texture without excessive sweetness. The result is a drink that is clean and confident.
Slow Tide and Stoned Pig, Goa
Every cocktail served at Slow Tide and the new, Stoned Pig is born out of Warehaus before reaching the bar. Warehaus has a separate R&D team working dedicated lab shifts, which allows the development, sovereignty from bar service. Warehaus takes an articulate, technique-led approach, routinely employing redistillation and aroma capture, fat washing, milk and enzyme clarification, sous-vide and rapid infusions, acid balancing, pH trials, and the development of house syrups, cordials, sodas and liqueurs.
Cocktail in focus: Acid Eric is a cocktail that was conceived, tested and perfected in the lab before earning a place on the menu. Watermelon, basil, almonds and acid engage in a slow dance with reposado tequila.
Soka, Bengaluru
Their space is located at the headquarters, precisely Kompany’s head office, where it serves as a shared R&D space for all their brands, including SOKA, Kalpaney, and the consulting projects. While the place is teeming with activity, primarily milk clarification and sous vide, this is essentially all conducted before service gets into the swing.
Cocktail in focus: Cheese Cherry Pineapple is nostalgia in a glass. The maraschino cherries, yellow cheddar cheese, cream cheese, fresh pineapple juice, milk, acids, all fat washed and clarified give it that roundness and is reminiscent of that beloved, yester-year appetiser.
Indicā, Delhi
Indicā operates its own dedicated R&D space, known as Indicā Lab, focused entirely on beverage experimentation. Conceived as a site for rigorous testing, the lab begins with raw ingredients, studying fermentation patterns and prototyping drinks before they reach service. Its key areas of work include house-brewed soft seltzers, iced teas, shrubs, syrups, cocktails and zero-proof creations, with the process always starting with fresh herbs, roots, fruits and spices.
Beverage in focus: Vetiver and Vanilla soft seltzer. It contains vetiver, Malabar vanilla, lime and muscovado.
Grumps, Goa
This 100-year-old outhouse turned bar still retains its modest look and feel, with naked, laterite walls and a rustic vibe. Their lab area is a bit disjoint from the main bar area and is cleverly turned around into a glass wash area, when service starts. But, some of their cocktails are so complex that they belie this simplicity.
Cocktail in focus: Funky Town is a clarified, tamarind and date highball in a tequila base, with umami sauce. Yummy, chutney-like and very smooth.
The Good Craft Co., Bengaluru
A lab that has turned the concept of R&D and guest interaction the other way around. Created by Diageo India to spotlight the country’s 4,500-year legacy of craft spirits, TGCC is a cross between a bar and a distillery. On weekdays, it operates as an active innovation hub. On Saturdays, the space opens to guests, offering insight into the full journey of how craft and heritage spirits come together.