When the Unsobered team decided to celebrate Thirsty City 127’s first anniversary, we had no idea what was awaiting us. All we knew was that the team had created something extremely special for their menu and Suraj Gurung from the famed bar – Stockton, Hong Kong – was going to be taking over the bar along with the skilled bartenders of Thirsty City.
Just looking at the menu was enough to send us into a tizzy.
The 1st edition of the Thirsty Trails menu is a labour of love that involved CEO of Thirsty City 127 Akriti Agarwal, Bar Manager Santosh Kukreti, Head Chef Deepak Punetha and Suraj Gurung heading into North-east India along with locals to forage for the most interesting ingredients the region has to offer. Considering that the North-east is relatively unexplored, the magic of discovering new ingredients in our cocktails and food was the USP of the night. The drinks menu has 6 brand new unimaginable cocktails by Santosh Kukreti, and a unique rice beer, while the food menu has 6 dishes and 3 desserts – heavily influenced by the chilli and citrus that you can find in the forests and villages of the North-East. These will be a part of the menu for the next 2 months.
Suraj Gurung of one of Asia’s Best Bars – Stockton, HK – concocted 4 delicious drinks and also brought 3 others straight from his famed bar just for the occasion.
The first cocktail to arrive was Shillong (no prizes for guessing which place this cocktail is an ode to) by the well-loved Santosh who brought together sesame honey, elephant apple puree, Cassia bark lead, egg white with Pinewood Smoked Whiskey. This was garnished with Cassia leaf dust which really lent a unique twist to the flavour profile.
Next came the gorgeous Rage of The Ape Men By Suraj Gurung, the most unique drink we had all night. Dewars 12, Kalchi Khar water, Koji (cooked rice and/or soyabeans that are fermented with a specific culture), Marshmellow, lemon, cream, egg white, jasmine flower blossom and banana trunk charcoal. Phew! Even we were taken aback by the number of ingredients and techniques that went into this tiny concoction. Safe to say, this experiment was a humongous success that introduced us to some wonderful new flavours that we never knew could go together the way they did.
We called for a Stockton original by Suraj, to drink as the people of Hong Kong do. And The Berry Picker definitely did not disappoint. With Jalapeno Don Julio Blanco Tequila as the spirit base, rectified Honey Dew Melon, Cucumber syrup, lemon sherbet and tonic water – this cocktail was a kicker. Starting off like any other sweet cocktail, it was easy to fall in love with the hints of cucumber and citrus that came through with the punch being landed by the jalapeno. Such cocktails truly show you what balance does for a drink.
Being fans of good food just as much as we are of alcohol, we had to try something from the Trail Menu, and landed on the Assamese Chicken Bowl by Head Chef Deepak Punetha . Not only was the Black Rice a true treat, the Thekera reduction, wild honey, Bhut Jolokia gravy with bits of pineapple to add to the chicken left our mouths watering for more. The more classic Panko Crusted Chicken had us mmm-ing and ahh-ing.
Assamese Chicken Bowl
Panko Crusted Chicken
We ended the night with another cocktail made right at the bar by Suraj – we wanted to see the master mixologist in action, can you blame us? It was a treat to watch him put effort and care into creating our Sin Tax – a mixture of Pandan Tanqueray London Dry Gin, Kaffir Lime liquor, young coconut syrup and citric solution. This Stockton Original was really sweet but not enough to put us off, but we get why it has mass appeal.
While we were finishing off the last dregs of our drink, the ambience and the crowd really made an impact on us. It was amazing to see people come to a bar just to witness maestros of bartending in action and to taste innovative cocktails. The fact that we had to push our way to the bar to even get a glimpse of the people in action, made us really happy (weird, we know). It’s high time mixology gets the appreciation it deserves.
A wonderful night and full bellies later, we left Thirsty City 127 as happy customers. They really did pull off something original and how. With the travels to North-east India, the new flavours, even the bar takeover by Suraj – this was a night Unsobered isn’t going to forget easily. We hope more bars follow suit, because Thirsty City really is setting a blazing trail when it comes to experiences.
(The Thirsty Trails menu will remain a part of the main menu for the next 2 months, so book your seats with Thirsty City 127 today at 9136942030)
