Why classic cocktails will never go out of style

India's discovery of inventive cocktails sidelined classics such as the Negroni and the Martini. Are they poised for a comeback?

- Suman Mahfuz Quazi

If the fictional British spy James Bond were to seek a drink in India in 2025, he might find himself sipping an olive-oil washed, clarified Martini with a caviar-topped cracker as its edible garnish.

The sun is shining over the Indian bartending community, with a slew of bars commanding the attention of the international hospitality fraternity. As exciting as this is, the trade-off is a pronounced difficulty in finding timeless tipples aka classic cocktails dating back to pre-Prohibition era—such as Old Fashioned, Manhattan and Sidecar—defined by their simple use of ingredients and fundamental mixing techniques like shaking and stirring.

Unless you're at Kolkata's buzzy, new cocktail parlour, Nutcase. Most bars put their signature and experimental pours at the beginning of the menu. But Nutcase starts theirs with zero-proof drinks, followed by modern classics (drinks such as Negroni, Penicillin and Picante invented in the latter part of the 20th century, known for their innovative flavour combinations and mixing methods). Classics like the gimlet or daiquiri, bubbly-based originals like the French 75 and an entire section for Martinis find equal importance. That classics would need prominence became clear to co-owner and chef Rituparna Banerjee during trials. "We had people from our inner circle testing signatures, but a sour or Negroni would always be their point of reference or what they'd compare it to. So we thought: why not highlight the point of reference?" she says.