Spice up your beer

A tap room in Mumbai is infusing beer with floral and herb flavours to some surprising results

On a recent Saturday in Mumbai, the Woodside Inn attempted to pour flavours typically associated with a boys’ night out and a south Indian wedding into the same glass. The gastrobar combined “White Zen”, an effervescent craft beer that is popular among local guzzlers, with sweet hints extracted from mogra florets. Rather than causing cognitive dissonance, however, the unusual synthesis was received with interest by diners, says in-house beer expert Abhishek Chinchalkar.

The establishment plans to make such pilot drinks — mixed with herbs, flowers, and spices — available once a month, at any one of its three outlets.