Further down Guwahati, an idyllic city along the Brahmaputra River in the Northeast, the roads disappear into deep forests. Amble in these verdant swathes and you're likely to discover a treasure trove of ingredients. Like, thekera, a leaf with souring properties that is dehydrated to form a chewy mush. There's also something called kolakhar, or kol (ash water), which is derived from filtering water through banana tree ash. Suraj Gurung is thinking what it would be like to take a little bit of this black elixir, mix it with fermented soyabean and clarify the concoction before adding it to a cocktail. He's still figuring things out, having just landed in Mumbai after a three-day trip through Assam and Meghalaya. This is the Nepal-born and Hong-Kong-based mixologist's maiden trip to India.

In April this year, Akriti Agarwal, CEO at Thirsty City 127 — a craft bar in Lower Parel that's completing their first anniversary tomorrow — was visiting the Asian country and had dropped by at the Stockton bar in Wyndham Street, which has been on the Asia's 50 Best Bars list since 2016. "I was there purely for the purpose of research. When I met him, we got along and have been in touch ever since."