Rajneesh Marwah, food and beverage manager, Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort, Greater Noida, always knew that he’d be a bartender one day. So, after completing his hotel management from the Institute of Hotel Management, Catering & Nutrition, Pusa, he joined The Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi in 1999 as a trainee at the hotel’s bar.

And he hasn’t looked back since. Marwah has been asso-ciated with hotels including Grand Hyatt Dubai, Shangri-La’s Eros Hotel, New Delhi, The Imperial, New Delhi and The Leela Kempinski Gurgaon. From playing trainee he’s worked his way up to being the bar manager.

Today, Marwah, 35, enjoys serving cocktails to guests whenever he gets time away from business meetings pertaining to bar management. Earlier this year, he got an opportunity to serve some old and New World wines to Formula 1 racers including Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher.

Marwah enjoys drumming up fruit cocktails as he feels that they are perfect for the scorching summer months. Whisky cocktails are also going great guns, he adds.

Marwah shares summery recipes from his bar menu:

Mandarin Tea	Ketel Fresh (Kiwi Martini)

Mandarin Tea

Glass: Champagne flute

• 2 shots of Tanqueray gin • 1 tsp mandarin marmalade • 100 ml chilled Earl Grey tea • a sprig of fresh lemon grass

Method:

Shake all the ingredients with crushed ice and serve chilled in a martini glass. Garnish the drink with fresh lemon grass.

Ketel Fresh (Kiwi Martini)

Glass: Martini

• 60ml Ketel One Vodka • 8 fresh slices of kiwi • a sprig of mint leaves • 10ml freshly squeezed lemon juice • 10ml celery juice • 1 tsp castor sugar

Method:

Blend the kiwi, mint and the lemon juice in a shaker. Then add the vodka, the celery juice and castor sugar. Put in crushed ice into the mixture and serve chilled in a martini glass. Garnish the drink with a lemon wedge and sliced kiwi.