Best, bar none

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Varun Sudhakar S. was crowned “India’s Ultimate Bartender” at the final round of the Diageo Reserve World Class 2013 in Mumbai last month.
After his win, Sudhakar spoke to us about what makes bartending so creatively satisfying. “For me, what is challenging about working with spirits is creating a drink that makes all your guests happy — difficult, since everyone has different palates. What’s exhilarating is to see people smiling and dancing around the bar, excited about a cocktail that was prepared by you. It brings a certain kind of energy and makes the atmosphere even more enjoyable,” he says.
While Sudhakar’s signature drink is the Archis II — a reimagining of the traditional whisky sour — he says that he likes working with all spirits, as “each is unique in its flavours, aromas and characteristics”. But if pressed to choose one, Sudhakar says he’d go for ethyl alcohol.
And does he have any quick fix measures for a drink that hasn’t turned out the way it was meant to? Sudhakar says he’d rather advise following the recipe and measuring all ingredients correctly than coming up with any quick fixes. However, he does add, “I believe the sourness and sweetness levels along with the right amount of spirit can do wonders for a drink. None of these three should mask the flavour of the other, but should be mixed together to give a flavourful outcome. If despite following the recipe perfectly, the drink isn’t meeting your expectations, then you can fix it by adjusting these three factors.”
His wizardry may get others high, but Sudhakar himself has a pretty different list when it comes to what puts him on cloud nine: “A bar with stunning ambience, good spirits and enchanting music!”