Not too often do you find a woman behind a professional bar in Indian cities. Looks like, the trend is changing. The first edition of La Maison Cointreau India championship, the only competition for female bartenders and mixologists in the country so far, saw as many as 18 participants.
Among the eight finalists of the competition — a part of an Asia-Pacific regional mixology challenge by Cointreau to identify talents in the Indian cocktail industry, Ami Behram Shroff was declared the winner. Cointreau India says the finalists were judged based on parameters like knowledge of the original recipe, innovation with a recipe, bar set-up and efficiency, bartending skills and presentation of recipe and taste. The finalists were shortlisted through a three-city semi-final held in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore last month.
Ami impressed an array of judges at the finals held at the Leela Hotel, Gurgaon, with two of her preparations, one of them being a modified version of the Cointreau classic cocktail, Kamikaze.
In a telephonic conversation from Mumbai where Ami is based, the talented mixologist, explains the twist she did to Kamikaze at the La Maison championship. “The traditional recipe of Kamikaze needs two parts of vodka, one part of Cointreau, half part each of lemon juice and sugar syrup. The drink I made at the finals had equal portions of vodka and Cointreau. I replaced the sugar syrup with honey, a natural sweetener which made the drink a milder version of the original.”
In the other preparation named Cointreaulicious, the alcoholic base was Remy Martin cognac and vodka done with jaggery which she infused with ginger and lemon grass. “I infused orange peel with jaggery to flavour the drink too,” she fills in. Calling use of spices and herbs in cocktails as one of her specialisations, Ami says all the events that she goes to, she always tries to draw a lot from spices. “I like to play with flavours and make my own.” She did the same when she made her winning cocktail Flavours of India at the Bacardi Legacy Cocktail Competition early this year.
Interestingly, Ami also specialises in a field which even not too many male bartenders have ventured into in India — flair bartending. “I have been doing it since 2003, I got trained casually with a friend and began practicing by flipping bottles,” she says.
Even though many young women are interested in professional bartending these days, the concern for one’s safety and security often come in the way. Ami says it is important to know where to draw the line. In the last one decade that she has been working behind a bar, only once did she face an unpleasant situation. “It was in Bangalore, but it could have happened anywhere. I was distributing shots to people on a dance floor. Suddenly, a man lifts me from behind. I had to stop him,” she states. Many times, Ami says, “One can actually feel safe behind the bar as that is your personal space.” She always goes by “the vibe a place gives to you.”
After winning the India rounds of La Maison Cointreau championship, Ami will represent the country at the regional finals in Bangkok in January 2015. Ami says she has not decided yet on what to prepare there, adding, “I will figure it out in the next couple of days. There has to be a good story to complement it.”
