The party week is about to begin. And if you are planning to throw a party at home, the job become humongous. Making the guest list, cleaning the house, deciding on the food and decorations... the list is endless. If ‘what to serve for drinks’ is bothering you, then maybe you can take a breather and follow some of the popular cocktails shared by popular chefs. The cocktails are easy to make and guests will appreciate them too. Fresh flavours: Talking about the trends, Pranaw Upadhyay, general manager Pune, Bellona Hospitality, 212 All Day Cafe & Bar, says, “This year, cocktails reigned supreme. We observed Pune drinking and appreciating cocktails across all our restaurants, and so we were encouraged to experiment and put our best foot forward.” Sharing more about the recent trends he noticed, Upadhyay says: - Cocktails made with fresh fruits, and not canned syrup versions. - Less sweet or naturally sweetened cocktails preferred over overly sweet syrupy versions - Use of fresh juices instead of canned/ aerated beverages as no one likes a dense cocktail; use of bitters and infusions. - In the recent past, Pune has started appreciating cocktails with complex flavours and people are looking to layered flavour profiles instead of flat-tasting cocktails - Muddling cocktails is a process of crushing ingredients like fruits, mint, etc at the base of the glass releasing the aromas and flavours without blending them (because blending thins everything to a paste). - It’s a season of Sour Cocktails. Sour cocktail is made in-house using acids from different fruits and is complemented by a little bit of natural sweetness. Upadhyay recommends Frozen Berry Margarita because it’s simple, fun and sexy and made specially for this season. The salty rim lends itself beautifully to a slightly tart, slightly sweet Margarita. Frozen Berry Margarita Ingredient: - Red Wine...1 bottle for 4 cocktails - Strawberry Chunks...2 tbsp per cocktail - Raspberry...2 tbsp fresh raspberry rush or any other sweet & sour berry per glass - Sugar syrup....2 tbsp made from raw sugar - Lemon juice...2 tsp per cocktail - Cherry for garnish