Bharat Bhushan Sharma has a penchant for serving cocktails with a twist. So, at Nostradamus, the bar that he mans at Hotel Fortune Select Excalibur in Gurgaon, his version of the Bloody Mary is spiked with Wasabi sauce and sometimes he replaces tomato juice with guava juice in his signature version titled Wasabi Guava Mary.

Sharma, who graduated with a degree in hotel management from Kurukshetra University in 2007, joined the Taj Chandigarh soon afterwards. The following year he shifted to Hotel Ibis, Gurgaon, where he worked for almost two-and-a-half years before joining Nostradamus in December last year.

Minty Affair

Melon Bellini

Bay Breeze

“Modern cocktails are generally men’s drinks as they have a hard liquor base of whisky. However, our menu offers cocktails for women like the Cosmopolitan, Caipiroska, Mai Tai, Pina Colada and more,” says Sharma.

He shares some of his favourite recipes.

Minty Affair

Glass: Margarita

Ingredients 10ml lime juice 10ml sugar syrup 60ml white rum 10-12 mint leaves A lemon wedge and a green chilli for garnish method Make a mixture of red chilli powder and salt and rim the glass with this. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend for a minute. Pour into the chilli-and-salt-rimmed glass. Garnish and serve.

Bay Breeze

Glass: Collins

Ingredients 90ml cranberry juice 90ml lime juice 60ml vodka A lemon wedge and pineapple slice for garnish

method Put everything in a cocktail shaker and shake well. Add ice and shake again. Pour into a glass, garnish and serve.

Melon Bellini

Glass: Champagne Tulip

Ingredients 15ml peach purée 90ml champagne or sparkling wine 15ml watermelon syrup A cherry for garnish

method Pour the peach purée in the glass. Add champagne or sparkling wine and top up with the watermelon syrup. Stir well. Garnish with the cherry and serve.

As told to Saimi Sattar; Photographs by Rupinder Sharma