Varun Sudhakar went to college hoping to get a degree in hotel management. But halfway through, he discovered that flipping bottles was more fun than becoming a chef. <img alt="Archis, the winning cocktail" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/jun/Archis-Cocktail.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 380px;" /> Archis, the winning cocktail So after college, the boy from Trivandrum joined the Taj hotels as a flair bartender, whipping up flamb&eacute; cocktails and impressing patrons by juggling bottles as he served a drink. &ldquo;In fact, I won a national flair bartending contest organised by Bacardi in 2009,&rdquo; says the soft-spoken 25-year-old who has just won the Diageo World Class bartending competition hosted by the world&rsquo;s largest spirits company. <img alt="Varun Sudhakar " src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/jun/Varun-Sudhakar.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 541px;" /> Amzing as it sounds, Sudhakar, who works in Mumbai&rsquo;s Four Seasons Hotel&rsquo;s Aer bar, learnt mixology almost entirely by reading books and watching videos on YouTube. &ldquo;YouTube is a great teacher,&rdquo; he says, adding quickly that experts such as Shatbhi Basu also helped. So how did a self-taught mixologist manage to beat the best of Indian bartenders in a contest that saw over 500 entries? &ldquo;All of us had to submit a cocktail recipe along with a story of how the recipe came about. In the regional finals, each of us had to tell that story as we prepared our cocktail. I called my wining entry Archis, which means &lsquo;ray of light&rsquo; in Sanskrit,&rdquo; Sudhakar tells us. And then, in the national finals, when six of the best squared off, the judges wanted contestants to improvise on their drinks. &ldquo;I smoked my whiskey glass in cinnamon. When the judges asked me why I had done that, I said I was recalling the spirit of my previous drink. They laughed and I knew I had done well,&rdquo; smiles the energetic young man. Off to France and then on to Ibiza aboard a cruise liner where he will face off with 50 of the world&rsquo;s best bartenders, Sudhakar is quietly confident. &ldquo;Indian bars serve more clients in a week than the total populations of some of the nations. I know what pressure means,&rdquo; he signs off. Archis Ingredients 60 ml Scotch whisky 20 ml lemon juice 20ml sugar syrup 20 ml orange reduction with cinnamon 4 sage leaves 15 ml egg white Method: Shake all the ingredients with a lot of ice and serve in a rock glass which is smoked with star anise. Garnish with lemon twist and sageu00a0

Varun Sudhakar is on a high, having just been adjudged India's best bartender in one of the most prestigious international bartending. On the eve of leaving for Spain, where the global finals will be held on a cruise liner, Sudhakar talks about flipping bottles, thinking on his feet and recipes of his favourite cocktails to Dhiman Chattopadhyay

I recalled the spirits of my last cocktail, says India's best bartender

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I recalled the spirits of my last cocktail, says India's best bartender

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