Mixologist Rohit Gawali, originally from Nagpur in India, recently created cocktails for Shosha in Sunnyvale, CA. 

Being from India, mixology and bartending isn’t a traditional career path that one would choose. However, in college the presentation of cocktails and flaring of bartending grabbed my attention.

After moving to the United States and working in Indian restaurants here, I noticed there were a lot more flavors in the Indian culture that I could incorporate into mixology. So, I started to experiment with more of the unique flavors of the Indian culture to create my own cocktails.

Shosha opened in 2021 with a focus on symbolic specialty cocktails like Raksha I created for the Raksha Bandhan festival of brothers and sisters. Raksha Bandhan is a popular and traditionally Hindu annual rite or ceremony that is central to a festival of the same name celebrated in South Asia. On this day, sisters of all ages tie a talisman or amulet called the rakhi around the wrists of their brothers.

Raksha’s flavors were developed for the colors specific to the festival. The red from the strawberries and the yellow from the turmeric represent the color of the thread used for the rakhis presented by the sisters to their brothers. The turmeric and a bite of tonic syrup and lemon juice offset the sweetness of strawberries. A black metal coupe glass enhances the ceremonial effect.

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Raksha

Course Drinks

Keyword aquafaba, Fever Tree elderflower tonic water, gin, lemon, strawberry

Ingredients

• 2 oz. Jin Jiji Darjeeling gin infused with turmeric
• 1 oz. The Perfect Purée strawberry puree
• ½ oz. Jack Rudy classic tonic syrup
• 1 oz. Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 ½ oz. Aquafaba

Instructions

• Hard shake all ingredients well.
• Double strain into black metal coupe glass.
• Add rakhi for presentation.