Yangdup Lama, a Delhi-based mixologist and owner of the Delhi bar Sidecar. Locally made gin is seen as "young and experimental" in India's drinks market, according to Lama. (Courtesy of Yangdup Lama)
KALPANA SUNDER
CHENNAI -- A year ago, Shruti Khanna, a young advertising professional in Bengaluru, southern India, tried a pink gin with botanicals made by Samsara, an Indian drinks company, and became an instant convert. "I like drinks that don't give me a heavy feeling, and \[Indian-made\] gin is ideal for that," she says.
Khanna is far from alone. The often colorless but aromatic spirit is becoming the favorite alcoholic drink of Generation Z and millennial Indians, defying its history as a favorite of British colonialists before Indian independence in 1947. A big difference, though, is that the drink is usually made in India, rather than in Europe.