Local innovation drives global cocktail culture

The rapid spread of trends in the broader cocktail culture is being driven by the infusion of innovative local flavours

- Shrabonti Bagchi

The Old Fashioned is being reimagined in interesting ways; and the team from Bar Leone at ZLB23.

If two trends defined global cocktail culture in 2025, they were the rise of the tequila-based picante and the return of the Old Fashioned.

The latter, the simple, definitive bourbon cocktail, is usually an uncomplicated concoction of the liquor, simple syrup and bitters. But it continues to be reimagined in cocktail bars across the globe and in India—often smoky, often citrusy, sometimes quite wild; infused with spices like cardamom and cinnamon, fruits like tamarind and mango, chai, and even bhut jolokia chilies.

The resurgence of the Old Fashioned and its playful iterations are a pretty accurate representation of global cocktail culture today, where the rapid spread of popular trends across cities and countries is accompanied by the infusion of local flavours, often quite literally, says Nidal Ramini, advocacy director at Brown-Forman, the company behind brands like Jack Daniel’s whiskey and Woodford Reserve bourbon. A trend may kick off in Spain or Portugal or Bangkok, and within weeks, it will be on the cocktail menu in bars in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, says Ramini, who was on a visit to India recently.