Kolkata Cocktail Weekend Raised The City’s Drinks Profile With Roaring Success

This past weekend saw Kolkata’s bars rise up in a challenge never seen before in the city of joy.

30BestBarsIndia, a platform co-founded in 2019 by Vikram Achanta and Radhakrishnan Nair to raise awareness of the rising standards of Indian bars and beverages, brought its first city-wide cocktail experience with Kolkata Cocktail Weekend, between September 25–27th. 

Over three days, twelve bars across Kolkata hosted a packed programme of international and Indian bar takeovers, special menus, cocktail workshops and masterclasses, whisky experiments, bar-culture walks and Sunday brunches, bringing consumers, bartenders and the wider hospitality community together around the city’s evolving drinking culture. While the high-energy evenings rolled into late nights, there were quieter, immersive experiences to be had at Rannaghor by Sienna or Nutcase Etc., where the craft of cocktails met the mastery on the plate with grace.  

Nine Kolkata bars feature in the 30BestBarsIndia Top 100 this year, viz., Sienna, Yokocho, Nutcase Etc., Conversation Room, Little Bit Sober, Mehico Cantina & Cocktail Bar, AM PM, Olterra and Sorano -  spanning distinctly different formats, drinking experiences and neighbourhoods across the city. 

Vikram Achanta, Co-Founder of 30BestBarsIndia, feels that Kolkata has been one of the most exciting bar markets to watch over the last couple of years, with some notable new openings and sharper programming. “It was a city we were keen to try this new format of an entire weekend programme in. There are also positive signs of the market’s growth and energy, with nine bars from the city on an extremely competitive Top 100 long list this year. It is exciting for both the bars and consumers to see some of Kolkata’s best venues come together with strong names from across India and a few from overseas, allowing the city to host, learn from, and be seen alongside the best.” 

Beyond New Bars 

What also stood out was a bar-culture walk led by beverage and heritage expert Priyanko Sarkar, which highlighted the age-old drinking culture of the city in its iconic establishments like New Cathay restaurant at New Market, The Banyan Bar at Fairlawn Hotel, and The Broadway Hotel in Chandni Chowk. For a city that is just gaining its place on India’s contemporary bar map, the enthusiasm from the owners of these establishments was palpable. Amreen Rahman, the fourth-generation owner of New Cathay Restaurant & Bar, said, “It is a moment of great pride to be able to showcase the places that have shaped our city’s drinking habits to be casual and fun for close to a century, to a wider audience through the Kolkata Cocktail Weekend.” 

The weekend saw talent from Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, Goa, Bengaluru and New Delhi play alongside some of Kolkata’s leading bars. But it was not just about the newest bars, as guests made their way to Trincas, a legendary name on Park Street, with the same enthusiasm as they visited Mehico on Ho Chi Minh Sarani. 

“Over the last few years, the city has developed a genuinely exciting cocktail culture, and Kolkata has really warmed up to it. What it perhaps hasn’t had enough of is the spotlight. Kolkata isn’t always the natural transit point for the country’s tastemakers, so sometimes it takes an extra initiative and an extra effort to bring that attention to the city. More than anything, it is a chance to put the spotlight on this larger movement and show the rest of the country the little cocktail revolution that has been taking place in Kolkata,” said Abhimanyu Maheshwari, Founder, Conversation Room and a key figure in making the event happen. 

The creativity went beyond the usual, especially at new bars like Synthe, where cocktails were tagged for the future. "Unlearn" (2070) mixed Monkey 47 and mezcal with tomato and strawberry vinegar, served over a smoke-filled ice cube while "Emotional Design" (2080) used butter-washed Chivas Regal 12 YO with brown butter syrup and cream foam. 

At Mehico Cantina, the "Misfits" menu went whimsical with the "Macher Jhol" cocktail combining a fish curry distillate with rice-infused Don Julio Blanco and clarified coconut milk. Their "Kolkata Biryani Gimlet" used garam masala-infused Tanqueray with potato brine and biryani cordial. 

At Conversation Room, the Don Julio menu kept things simpler. The "Applause" paired Don Julio Reposado with roasted corn and vermouth, and the "Aftershow" combined Don Julio Blanco with homemade guava soda, lemongrass, and fino sherry. 

A Butterfly Effect 

Ajay Nayyar, National Advocacy and World Class Lead at Diageo India, says, “Kolkata is a market that loves brown spirits, so this was an exciting opportunity to engage with consumers.” 

The city showed up, with tickets being sold out on District and consumers across age groups settling into their favourite bars across hotels like ITC Royal Bengal, JW Marriott and standalones as the evenings progressed. The event also helped newer bars like Synthe come into the culture with a strong opening. 

The Johnnie Walker Whisky Experiments tasting and masterclass at Nutcase etc. looked at the spirit beyond the traditional whisky pour with creative cocktails featuring a chocolate orange cocktail that tasted better than a tiramisu in a glass and a drink that makes you feel you are drinking wine but is actually a whiskey cocktail. The main menu features exciting flavours in drinks like the Joker, Meow Habibi and a drink called ‘Good Luck’ centred around traditional Bengali payesh, crafted with rice-infused vodka. 

The weekend closed on Sunday with brunches bringing Goan bars to Kolkata viz., Petisco, Second House, Quinta Cantina and MOFO at different locations. For a Bengali out of Bengal for decades, this author found that the event indicates a restructuring of how the city goes out to indulge in F&B experiences that deliver beyond expectations.