Held in conjunction with Hanna Lee Communications’ Worldwide Bartender Week, the event culminated in the India Bar Summit at Le Méridien Gurgaon for two days of panels, workshops and masterclasses led by influential figures in the global and Indian bar community.
Speaking on the inception of IBW at the Bar Summit, co-founder Minakshi Singh, told DI: “We always felt that it’s been a long time coming. Indian bartenders and the Indian bar industry have always struggled with positioning in the sense that we are really new in the industry culturally.
“We are catching up fast to what the world is doing and we wanted to showcase that and bring a unifying voice to the industry and on one platform,” Singh continued.
The event championed inclusivity in terms of India’s geography, bringing together bartenders from cities across the country. “I think we’re all in a bit of shock,” added Singh. “The word has spread and the industry needs it, there is a real thirst for knowledge and respect and I can see that everybody wants that. India is ready for this. I don’t want people to perceive us with that light anymore, we are doing well for ourselves and I want the world to see this.”
On India’s bar culture and affirming its place in the global scene, Yangdup Lama, co-founder of IBW, added: “The cocktail culture in India has just started to take off in the past few years and local pride is a big thing which wasn’t always there. We were using more western ingredients but now bartenders are using a lot of local flavours, twisting cocktails and bringing something unique. With every new bar that’s opening, and even restaurants, they have a strong bar programme and a lot are based on regional ingredients, so there’s lots on offer for the consumer.
“We still have a lot of domestic consumers. People don’t come to India with the idea of F&B tourism and as we progress, that is what we need to work towards. We have fantastic food and we have great bars and bartenders who are innovative, so we have a wonderful plethora of offerings for consumers who come from outside of India,” Lama continued.
With the inaugural IBW wrapped up, looking ahead to next year, Vikram Achanta, third co-founder of IBW, said: “We’ve seen the evolution of the Indian drinks industry and a rapid evolution over the last three to four years. We’re on the cusp of further growth and we’re seeing more bars and quality bartending across cities, including smaller ones, where you might not have thought there would be these high quality cocktails.
“Clearly we’ve struck a chord with the community and there’s been this tremendous thirst for knowledge. We hope it’s an inspirational event for the bartending community and they too can dream about the potential of what their career offers them. It’s given us a lot of momentum, so in the lead up to the 2026 edition we would definitely like to do satellite events across the country with one in each city, so if people can’t come to IBW we’ll try and bring a small piece to them,” Achanta continued.
IBW also offers The Handshake Grant, an initiative to provide access to bartenders across the country which saw 200+ applications from 15 different cities and the state of Goa.
On the grant, Singh added: “The idea was, no questions asked, to help legitimate bartenders who can’t get to the global bar shows or at least bring them to one in India. We want to continue to do it every year and keep it unique to India Bartender Week.”
