Beverage Boom In Small Towns

The steady evolution of Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities over the past few years has been a marked feature of India's beverage landscape

- – By Vikram Achanta –

During the India Bartender Show 2025, the title of one of the most engaging discussions was Small Cities, Big Dreams, held, aptly enough, on a stage called Baithak, where all sessions were conducted in Hindi.

The discussion was anchored by Vijeta Singh of Pune's Elephant and Co. and had Avantika from Chandigarh's Fola, Vedant from Indore's L'Atelier, Simran from Jaipur's Native, Rachit from Guwahati's Terra Maaya, and Manoj from Chennai's Pandan Club as panellists. Not all cities are traditionally known for bars with elevated beverage programs, but now feature a selection of fine spirits and/or wines, as well as cocktail menus that would not be out of place in a top bar in one of India's metros.

The steady evolution of Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities over the past few years has been a marked feature of India's beverage landscape. Apart from the other cities, we also see concept bars pop up in Bhopal (Citrus Garden Project), Leh (Lehchen), Kochi (Colony Bar), and Shillong (Shad Skye), to name just a few. I have been fortunate enough to visit nearly all of the bars mentioned above over the past year and have in-depth conversations with the owners and managers of these outlets.

The opening of these bars with expensive cocktails and premium spirits, intrigues me, as it also points, in many ways, to a leap of faith by entrepreneurs or hoteliers in their local consumer base. Most of these entrepreneurs, however, are also savvy businesspeople who are well-travelled internationally and want to bring a taste of what consumers in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore already enjoy, as well as their experience of beverage programmes in New York and London, to their hometowns. It's also definitely a sign that they feel consumers in these boomtowns are ready to upgrade their beverage lifestyle - from whisky-soda to single malt, and from tequila shots to Palomas and Picantes.

Beyond the Metros