We are hanging out by the bar at The A, a private members club on the eighth floor of One India Bulls Centre. The Speakeasy Bar within has a hidden entrance, replete with dim lights, brick walls and leather furniture and is literally Lower Parel's towering secret.

Keshav Prakash, dressed in an indigo linen suit with a silver broach, a juniper sprig from his recent induction to the Gin Guild, asks the server to fold a strip of cucumber around the inner lining of a glass and drops three ice cubes into it. He hands us a bottle of Martin Miller's Gin and a 30-60 ml peg measure. He guides us to fill the 60 ml cup to brim and pour it into the glass. "Now, top it up with tonic water, carefully in equal measure. This is the game changer, as tonic water can easily overpower your drink. When you try this at home, you can replace your cucumber slice with a slice of orange, bay leaf, kaffir lime and even basil leaves," he explains, offering us our cocktail.