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SOUND THE ALARM. Now: sober folks, designated drivers, and CrossFit champions can join the all-night rager at Bengaluru’s Muro too. They don’t have to sip on their Shirley Temples gingerly. They don’t have to cradle their countless Coca-Colas. They don’t have to sheepishly prefix ‘virgin’ to the names of retro cocktails while everyone around them gets to sip, savour and get sozzled. At the Muro’s mezzanine floor – where the Muro Musings 2.0 menu is served, that too in a cosier, intimate bar – everyone is treated as equals. Their latest, refreshed crafted cocktail menu has “something unexpected, whether you drink alcohol or not,” points out Niharika Rawal, the co-founder of these posh digs.
Turning everything into wine
For the alcohol-aligned: the menu is treasure trail. Wild coriander and elderflower rub elbows with gin, Prosecco, and Laphroaig mist in Shades of Green; shrimp water partners with gin to punch up a Michelada in the Dirty Ceviche; and Doritos and salsa dance with tequila in a glass of El Mariachi. If you’re having a Wimbledon hangover, like this writer, then you can drown those sorrows and prep for the US Open with a Miami Vice. It’s got the throughline of strawberry with a tropical twist of coconut butter, pineapple acid, tequila and chamoy, a spicy-sweet-salty-sour sauce from Mexico. And even dessert has been turned into a drink: through a play between textures and temperatures, we’re tricked into drinking our delicious Mango Sticky Rice. And, there’s still more to discover: new highballs and flights of martinis.
Along with launching this second outing of their house-special cocktails, crafted by Sahil Essani, the bar manager. For Rawal, it was also important “that everyone be part of the fun”. And so, Essani has also crafted an all-new zero-ABV menu, which features drinks that are zero-percent alcohol by volume or in simpler parlance: zero-proof or non-alcoholic drinks. Rawal was certain of a few things: they didn’t want the zero-ABV menu to be “boring, or that we’re going to simply minus the alcohol from a cocktail and that’s it, we’re done." She was clear that it had to undergo the same "rigorous experimentation and engineering that went into getting the cocktails to drink just right” to be reflected in the making of this menu too. For Rawal, from a drinking quality and business POV, the zero-ABV drinks had to work at the level of “if you aren’t paying attention, you probably won’t be able to tell the difference”. And therefore, won’t feel jipped out of having a great drink.
Easier said than done
“The most amount of hard work that went into designing our new menu went into the zero-ABV programme,” underscores Essani. He and the bar put in this work because the data, globally and locally, supports the fact that “people have become more discerning about their alcohol consumption”. In this tightly-edited menu of six zero-ABV drinks, Essani has ensured that there’s “something desserty to super citrusy and crisp” and hits the spectrum of notes in-between.
With this menu’s debut, they decided to recreate the classics but bring “the Muro approach” to it. “With our approach to classic cocktails, we like to say that we’re making our favourite versions of your favourite classic cocktails,” quips Essani. He backs this up by adding, “For example, Muro’s Old-fashioned has a bit of burnt butter in it, which makes it a bit more buttery: think butterscotch minus the sweetness. The espresso martini at Muro is blended because we feel it makes it super-cold and fluffy, and remains cold throughout the entire drinking experience." Essani employed this same approach here as well. He takes the example of the Pinacolada from the zero-ABV menu. “We figured out a way to make this classic cocktail with zero-ABV rum, but we wanted to take it a notch higher. So, for our Pinacolada, we separate textures; there’s a clear pineapple juice, tender coconut water and zero-ABV rum as a base. Instead of incorporating the cream, we just float it on top. It’s a taro-based cream, which gives the drink a nutty texture and flavour. And so with each sip, you are getting a little bit of everything,” he explains.
He also walked us through the thought process behind his other favourite: the Garibaldi. “I’ve always loved a Garibaldi: it’s a simple but delicious drink. It’s a combination of Campari and orange juice,” he says, excitedly. “The hardest part was splitting the Campari to take away the twenty percent of alcohol. But then, we were left with a beautiful, complex, deep-red liquid. Think Campari minus the booze,” he adds helpfully. “Then, we nitrous-charge fresh orange juice – it’s the same process that makes Guinness beer creamy – and here, the resulting orange juice is light, airy,” Essani mentions, “like a cloud”.
Sobriety, the short stick to drive the gaggle back home or being supple for yoga class, are no longer obstacles to catching up on the hottest gossip with the gang.
Muro is at 5, Onyx Center, Ground & Mezzanine Floor, Museum Road, Bengaluru | Call 8069456060 for reservations. Open on all days, the menu is served from 7 pm till 1 am.
