Five Mad Men, the party pad at Salt Lake Sector V, hosted the Calcutta Cocktail Carnival in partnership with Paytm Insider. The tagline #MADENESSISALWAYSRIGHT suited the carnival really well as Calcuttans indulged in flavoursome sips on the last weekend of March.
Day One (March 25) witnessed flair bartender and mixologist Ami Shroff displaying her magic at the bar; founder of 'Cocktails India' YouTube channel Sanjay Ghosh aka Dada Bartender taking over the bar; and an electrifying performance by DJ and violinist from Mumbai, Danika. Bar games like Mad vs Food stole the show on the opening day as those present indulged in a carnivalesque kick-start to the weekend.
Day Two (March 26) started off with a fun session of food and alcohol pairing followed by a Make Your Own Cocktails session hosted by mixologist Kedar Paswan; Decoction, a brew session by the founder of Tea with Susmita and a certified tea artist from Diageo Bar Academy, Susmita Dasgupta; and bar takeover by mixologists like Indranil Chatterjee (regional mixologist of MarimBula, India), among others. The night ended on a musical note with a folk rap performance by the 2014 best hip-hop act winner in VH1 Sound Nation Awards, Feyago, and electronic beats by city DJs Kunal G and Reick.The Telegraphgot talking to the mixologists and artistes in the house. Excerpts:
“Rap music is very similar to a cocktail. We need a unique blend of ingredients for both. For cocktails, you have a core (spirit), a balance (sugar, among others) and seasoning. For rap music, you have a melody, lyrics and a beat. They need to be unique, intriguing and creative to satisfy the consumer. Apart from that, they both have a rhythm, because you need to shake or stir a cocktail in rhythm, and rap stands for rhythm and poetry, so without rhythm, there is no rap,” said Feyago.
“Tea cocktails are a part of mixology where both alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages are blended to enhance flavourful experiences. Tea alcohol follows the same principles. I make tea with different kinds of tea leaves and then identify the right alcohol that complements it. I either use juice or syrup to garnish the tea cocktails to ensure the best drinking experience for those who partake in them. To conduct it impeccably, understanding the different profiles of tea becomes essential,” said Susmita Dasgupta when asked about her Decoction session at the Calcutta Cocktail Carnival.