Mixologist Richard Hargroves tells Ayushi Sharma how he trusts local resources

He whisks, stirs and serves the freshly formulated cocktails like Bolt, faster than the speed of light. It’s all about speed, he says, since people don’t like to wait once they have made their order. It makes them angry.

Taking us on a journey through his special curations at the Gurugram bar-cum-restaurant, Dragonfly, mixologist Richard Hargroves says, “You need different types of drinks to suit the needs of disparate individuals. People want their cocktails to be mindful of their tastes and preferences.” Out of the specially-curated 12 alcoholic cocktails for summer and four non-alcoholic ones, five are laid out before us. And we try three.

First in line is the Japanese Colada, a tad bit more captivating from the usual Pina Colada. Using an eight-year-old Bacardi, he has blended it with Shochu (a Japanese distilled beverage made with rice, barley, buckwheat and brown sugar), home-made coconut sorbet, pineapple cordial, some almond milk, tamarind reduction and plum wine reduction together with pineapple syrup and champagne. Shaking it vigorously with crushed ice, the cocktail is garnished with some coconut and pineapple foam, giving it the look of a mocktail. The colada tingles the senses evocatively.

He apprises us that whenever one launches a cocktail menu, there is always a theme woven around it. So here, all the drinks are inspired by Manga characters. He says, “Attention is paid to even the minutest detail, something that a restaurant or bar will not be able to focus on. And that is where our expertise comes in.”

One of the mixologist’s key mantras is to make his own syrups. They not only add a cool element but as well save money as they last for about a week and cut down on liquor waste. They are the cost of only a cup of sugar.

Next on the counter is Lemongrass Whisky Sour. Infused with lemongrass, which enhances the aromatics, he takes out the Japanese Yamazakura whisky and blends it with lemongrass cordials, vanilla syrup with a dash of angostura bitters, typically used for flavouring beverages. Extra marks for his uphill battle but the drink appears dull and tastes exactly like its name — sour.

Another drink, Sakazuki Cooler, is a gin infused with passion fruit, blended with Shochu and plum wine. To balance the drink’s flavours of fresh lemon and green apple juice, he uses a dash of honey, ginger cordial and orange bitters. Served in a dragonfly-shaped, oval cup, which make it look a bit over the top, the cocktail is garnished with a caramelised apple ring, toasted sesame seeds and mint spring. The one-of-its-kind drink is enough to make one realise how a good cocktail can really help you unwind.

So how has he customised cocktails for India? Hargroves instantly responds that he plays around with the resources. He says, “There are very limited amounts of cures here. If we talk about London, we have 10 different types of muses, flavours and ingredients. But the trouble here is that you don’t have that privilege. This is a disadvantage for India to not have the entire set of ingredients. So that limits you to present what you have thought of. For instance, we did a research a couple of days ago and we experimented with over 20 classic cocktails but it was quite hard to complete because there were very few ingredients.”

However, doesn’t this dearth of resources not make one creative and innovative? “Of course it does. There are certain elements that you simply cannot replicate even if you wish to. So you have to think out of the box and create something totally brand new.”

Explaining further, he says that in most countries one can bring the cure over subject to approval. “However,” he says, “if I bring it over here and it doesn’t have enough sales, it will eventually disappear and die out. We have to build an awareness first before we develop a market for flavour profiles.  Also, you have to pay a huge fee for the licence to bring such ingredients into the country. The best way is to make use of spices and ingredients here. They lend a huge kick to the drink and I am sure they would find takers in the West too.”