Monsoon is quite the underrated season. Away from the coastline, summers and winters bring their own set of pros and cons — mangoes versus blistering heat, oranges versus biting cold — and spring has a skippety-step built into its very name.
But monsoon is that gap between summers and winters, when the heat hasn't exactly entirely abated but water has now been added to it, thereby making for one humid mucky mix.
Drinking in the heat focuses on cold drinks, the type that refreshes from within, and protects you against the sun’s strongest onslaught.
Winters, by contrast, require drams that, to borrow from classic literature, warm the very cockles of your heart. Spiced, mulled, and heady take precedence over the crisp, light, and fruity. Spring is all about the florals and extracts thereof.
But monsoon: what about the wettest, sultry months of the calendar year? What excuse do we find to justify our quotidian imbibing? Well, worry no further, here is a list of four flavours that are the perfect monsoon revivers.
Earthy: If there’s one thing that marks the advent of monsoons for me, it is the way the earth gives off this rustic note as the first drops hit the parched ground. It’s almost magical; the way the earth drinks in the dregs of the first downpour and in turn exhales this aroma of everybody’s childhood, or of childhoods before the era of Playstations and Instagram.
Recently I rediscovered this note, not after a rain, but upon inhaling at the mouth of a bottle of an exquisite Mezcal. I had always thought of Mezcal as the ostracised step-sibling of Tequila, and considering how much I loathe Mexico’s national beverage, I never attempted flirting with what was considered the uncouth country cousin.
I must say, post this startling discovery, I now know that I much prefer Mezcal to Tequila: that characteristic earthiness, which Mexicans complain about, is possibly what made it aromatically more appealing to me. Monsoons this year will be about Mezcal Margaritas.
Minty: Monsoon makes one crave for something prickly on the tongue. It’s as if all the water somehow makes its way into our glasses and dilutes our drinks.
Mint can be a strong flavour but combines well in the drinks world. The Julep family of drinks involves mixing any base spirit with sugar and mint leaves, all served over crushed ice aplenty.
The classic version is made with Bourbon but any substitute will do. The result is a potent, soothing, and yet cracking fresh drink to watch the rain from the patio.
Bitter: There is no season for bitter, really. The most important connotation stems forth from the notion that dates back to when British soldiers stationed in India had to take quinine in their diet in order to avoid the surge of malarial mosquitoes. Soon, they found that mixing it with soda and a good measure of gin worked wonders for this curative concoction.
Gin and Tonic then is the quintessential monsoon drink that seamlessly passes on from summers. Combine with a good tonic (Fever Tree, a good tonic option, I am told, is now available in the country) so that you can taste the gin and all its herby goodness.
Bitter 2: In case the above combination isn’t jaw-breaking enough for you, up the quotient and opt for a Negroni.
This simple cocktail is equal parts Campari, vodka, and vermouth. It’s little sweet, a little dry, and whole-heartedly bitter. The Negroni week only recently concluded and half the proceeds from all sales (worldwide!) were diverted to charities. As if one needed more reasons to partake of it.
Either ways, I am doubling my rations for the coming months, for a good cause really.
Magandeep Singh is India's first sommelier, food, wine and travel writer and TV show host. His passions include studying languages and choking the saxophone. In his free time he works.
