The Indian craft spirits landscape is witnessing a profound shift from global trends to hyper-local roots. Hapusa, the world’s first Himalayan Dry Gin by Nao Spirits and Beverages, has officially announced the top 50 bartenders for the second edition of the Forager’s Championship. This year’s competition received 112 entries - a 22 percent surge from its debut.

Turning Tradition into Technique: A Revolution in Mixology

The first round concluded with 60-second video submissions, where the country’s coastlines, forests, and neighborhood markets became unofficial bar pantries. Moving beyond safe ingredients like guava, this year’s shortlist features a bold, almost rebellious botanical palette, including Assamese black rice, seaweed, clams, gundruk (fermented greens), and Indian pennywort. Technique followed suit, with a heavy lean toward spirit-forward classics. Martinis dominated the entries, serving as the primary vehicle for house-made vermouths that captured the raw character of foraged finds.

Anand Virmani, Co-Founder and Master Distiller of Nao Spirits, notes that this shift is fundamental to the craft: “When you start with where you are instead of what’s trending, you get drinks that couldn’t exist anywhere else. That shift changes how bartenders think: ingredients stop being props and start becoming teachers.”

The shortlisted 50 represent nine cities, including talent from EKAA (Mumbai), Jamming Goat 3.0 (Bengaluru), and Olterra (Kolkata). These bartenders now enter the regional rounds, beginning 16 February, where they will taste each other’s work to peer-select city champions.

The Top 50

The stakes are high. Five Indian winners will join champions from the UK and Italy for ‘The Forager’s Journey’ — a six-day immersion in the Himalayas, the spiritual home of Hapusa. This expedition focuses on ingredient discovery and cultural exchange, culminating in a signature cocktail showcase in New Delhi.

As Virmani puts it: “The Forager’s Championship is really about slowing down and paying attention to the places we work in, not just the recipes we borrow.”

With regional rounds underway, the industry watches as these 50 foragers redefine what an Indian cocktail can be — one foraged leaf, grain, and shell at a time.