I loved the end result. I do not think I had seen this recipe before. Got this from The Spruce Eats.

First, muddle a jalapeno in a mixing glass. Add ice, two ounces of mango juice (I have a nice one from the local Indian store0, two ounces of vodka (I used Tito’s), a spoon of Agave Nectar, a spoon of lime juice and a couple of dashes of orange bitters. Shake it well and pour it in a martini glass.

The drink has a kick and is very flavorful.

I still have some of the guava juice left. Went with a variation of the Cosmopolitan today.

Mix two ounces of vodka, two ounces of guava juice, half an ounce of Triple Sec and half an ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice with ice in a shaker and then pour in a martini glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

This is not the real name. If you have a better name, let me know. I had some Guava juice with me. Guava was one of the common fruits we grew up with in India. In fact we had a couple of guava trees in our own yard.

The fruit itself, as I understand is not native to India. It was brought to India by the Portuguese, who themselves got it from southern Mexico. The origin, as I understand, is in southern Mexico/central America.

Anyways, I asked Sharmila what would go well with Guava juice. Ginger and jalapeno, she said.

So, here is how the drink was made…

Put a small amount of ginger paste or muddle a little piece of ginger with a couple of small slices of jalapeno in a glass . Ginger is very strong – so be easy on the amount. Pour ice, a little rock salt, 3-4 ounces of guava juice and 2 ounces of vodka. I used UV’s Sriracha vodka to get the extra pungency. Shake it and pour in a cocktail glass.

Continuing with the India themed cocktails.

Muddle a couple curry leaves with a few drops of lemon juice with a muddler. Add ice, Himalayan pink salt, 3-4 ounces of rasam (strain out everything other than the liquid) and 2 ounces of vodka. Shake and pour in a cocktail glass. Spring some dried and powdered cumin seeds from the top in the end.

Sharp to the tongue and very flavorful.

Picked up another recipe from that NDTV column and then improvised it. The first improvisation was instead of rock salt (Himalayan Pink Salt), I went with Tajin seasoning. If you have not tried this seasoning, I can highly recommend it. It is addictive and goes well with just about any food. It is made in Mexico (state of Jalisco I believe) and has sea salt, dehydrated lime (it will remind you of tamarinds from India) and dried chilli.

Wet the rim of the cocktail glass (I used a lowball) with lime wedge and dip the glass in a small bed of Tajin sauce to put the salt on the rim. In a cocktail shaker, mix 2 ounces of dark rum (I used one from Puerto Rico), 3 ounces of fresh pine apple juice and pinch of the Tajin seasoning and a few lime drops. Shake it well and pour it in the glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

After a long time, found a good cocktail recipe. For the folks not conversant in Hindi, “Ganne” means “Sugarcane”. I had accompanied Sharmila for some Indian grocery shopping yesterday. While aimlessly wandering around, saw a can of sugarcane juice and picked it up without sparing any second thoughts.

Finding a good cocktail with sugarcane juice was much harder than I thought. Sugarcane is such a tropical thing that most literature on mixology in the Western world has not much mention of it. There were a couple of sites that used rum.

Eventually, found one from the Indian channel NDTV’s website. The name of the cocktail is from them. I just changed up the process a little.

1. Roast some cumin seeds and grind them (enough to make a couple of pinches). Sharmila already had ground roasted cumin seeds. So, that part was easy for me. If you are from India, you might like it with more pronounced effect of the cumin seed than the website suggests.

2. Wet the rim of a lowball glass with a slice of lemon. Put some “kala namak” (Himalayan pink salt / Bengalis will know it as “beetnoon”). My father in law had brought some in 2014 and we still have it in our pantry. Put a couple of cubes of ice in the glass.

3. In a mixing glass, put in 1.5 oz of vodka, 2-2.5 oz of sugarcane juice, a couple of pinches of the ground, roasted cumin powder and a couple of drops of lemon juice.

4. In the second round, I added a small pinch of “kala namak” too. The added pungency and the faint salty after taste was better for me.

5. Shake the whole thing and then pour in the lowball glass.

For me, it was one of the best cocktail. The cumin and rock salt had a pronounced nose, the sugarcane with the rock salt had a good palate and the slightly salty aftertaste with the cumin length made it very enjoyable!!

This is my first sake-based cocktail. Possibly the last too. I am not sure sake makes for a good base of any cocktail.

A Ginja Strip has 2 ounces of Sake, a couple of dashes of Sweet Vermouth and one dash of Angostura bitters. Shake all the ingredients with ice and pour into a cocktail glass. Maraschino cherry is the common garnish.

Most of the palate has the blandness of a sake and to me the nose was fairly nondescript too. Would not suggest trying this one out.

Shake 3 ounces of Vanilla Vodka with half an ounce each of Dry Vermouth and Cointreau with crushed ice and pour in a cocktail glass. Vanilla beans would be a good garnish (but I did not have them). Soft, sweet and flavorful cocktail.

This is equal parts Benedictine DOM and Brandy. Mix them in a snifter – with or without rocks.

This is 1.5 oz of Rye Whiskey (I used Templeton), 0.5 oz of Mezcal (used Casamigos), Bitters, 0.25 oz of Elderflower Liqueur (used St. Germaine) and 0.25 oz of Aperol. Stir all these with ice (do not shake) and pour in a cocktail glass.

If yesterday’s drink was all nose and length, today’s is all about the palate. First to hit is the Elderflower liqueur’s sweet taste but give it a few seconds and the Aperol and Bitters (bitter) taste come roaring forward.