The lock down blues is getting everybody down with no parties or having friends over for a fun evening filled with nice conversation to be enjoyed with a cocktail or two. Though the lock down means that you can’t have a gathering, it doesn’t mean that one can’t enjoy a relaxed cocktail in the evening after typing away on your laptop the whole day. Worried that you many not have the necessary ingredients to make that perfect drink? Don’t worry. Help is only a click of a mouse away.

All you have to do is log on to the more popular delivery apps and a pre-mix kit will be delivered right at your doorstep. That’s correct. One can now choose from 20-plus kits that the company to offer and sells from its website and delivery apps. Some of the cocktails that one can make at home are Beer hood, Bourbonology, Tequilastan, Vodkabulary, Whiskypedia, Bloody Mary, Margarita and El- Macua.

Deepender Singh, founder-director of Swizzle, a Bengaluru-based company, tells you that the idea came after his business partner, Vrinda Singhal, an ardent cocktail fan wouldn’t be able to find the necessary ingredients to have her favourite cocktails. “This got us talking and turned the idea into a business proposal. We spent the next few months on research on what were the popular cocktails and how we could deliver a pre-mix kit to the people who had no idea how to make one at home but still enjoyed their drink. The end result was that in October 2019, we went live in Bengaluru and the response has been great,” Singh says. However, there is a catch in the kit. The company can’t deliver alcohol, that is something that the customer needs to have at home. Now, that liquor shops are open and if one was low on an alcohol, a visit to the nearest wine shop will do the trick. So, what does the kit include? Plenty according to Singh.

First, the kit has all the dry ingredients if the cocktail’s recipe entailed it. For example, if one ordered a Bloody Mary kit, it would have salt, tomato juice, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, lemon juice and even ice to make one cocktail. Second, garnish is just as important as are the ingredients, the kit will have this too. Three, if the cocktail required to be stirred, it would have that, if the cocktail needed to be shaken, it would have a shaker and even a measuring glass for how much alcohol to add. There is a prep card that tells you which glass one can use and the three easy steps needed to make the perfect cocktail.

Sadly, these wonders kits are not available in any other metro but Bengaluru for now but plans are in place to expand to other cities including Delhi at the earliest.  “We are looking at several metros where we can expand and it will happen sooner than later. We chose Bengaluru because home parties are a fad here especially over the weekend,” Singh says.

Some cocktails have undergone a twist given that there are many ingredients that are extremely expensive. Take Orange Tundra. This cocktail requires pink soda, coffee liqueur and orange juice. “Coffee liqueur is expensive. With our kit, one can make this great cocktail hassle-free and it tastes just as fantastic,” Singh shares.

The kit price starts from Rs 149, Rs 179 and Rs 219 per kit. “Our aim is to offer people the best cocktail that they can enjoy at home that are not expensive to make. There are discounts and value packs if one wanted to make more an one cocktails. These prove to be much cheaper,” Singh says.