Back in July, while we were still a young company, we wrote a small piece on why Bombay needs to have its own signature cocktail, and here were are three months later, an internet behemoth with a viewership spanning tens of people, most of them writers for LBB, and the resources equivalent to a twelve year old’s weekly allowance doing what we do best, trying to justify our chronic drinking problems by building an organisation around it.
As patriots and alcohol enthusiasts, we believe Bombay deserves to have a cocktail to call its own. There’s the Long Island Ice Tea, the Blue Hawaii, the White Russian, but no Bombay anything. Which is why it brings ua great pleasure to bring you the second instalment of Bombay Themed Cocktails. All of which were thought up by Derrick the Intern, but which we will take credit for.
1) Pani Puri Shot
What you’ll need: 30ml of Pani Puri water, 30ml of Vodka and 1 teaspoon of Meetha Chutney.
Pani Puri shots are arguably the most painful shots I’ve ever had to try, because like an idiot we forgot to put the meetha chutney in my glass. There’s something oddly titillating about having your oesophagus momentarily set ablaze. The meetha chutney does help the shot go down easy for those of you who are unadventurous (or women), but if we’re being honest, we much preferred the pure uncut version, if only for the excitement of downing what’s essentially chilli water and vodka.
2) Jeera Masala
What you’ll need: 200ml of Jeera Masala Soda, 60ml of Blue Riband Gin
You either love Jeera Masala Soda, or you hate it with a burning passion, which is pretty much the same case with gin. The good thing about this drink is that the gin doesn’t really change the taste of the jeera masala soda a whole lot, because masking the taste of jeera is scientifically impossible, so it’s still very much the drink you know and love/hate.
3) The Ganna Juice Wala
What you’ll need: 1 medium size cup of Ganna Juice (sugarcane juice), 60ml of Old Monk, 1 Lemon.
There’s no better way to beat the Bombay heat than with a nice glass of ganna juice, except for emigrating or getting a summer internship at a big company just for the free air-conditioning, but you can’t put either of those in a cocktail, so let’s just stick to juice. You’d think that Old Monk, the most bitter thing in the world after ex wives would totally ruin the taste of ganna, well, it doesn’t. If you’re a fan of drinking in the day, nothing is more refreshing, especially in this blistering heat. Think of it as a poor man’s Mimosa. We’ve made a lot of cocktails in our day, some were great, some nearly poisoned us, but this was our favourite by a long shot. It takes a children’s drink we all loved and adapts it for adult onset depression.
Do you have suggestions for more Bombay Themed Cocktails? Let us know in the comments and we’ll try them out on Derrick the Intern.
