Mumbai’s Ekaa has launched Dwadash, a 12-course cocktail tasting menu that approaches cocktails as a way of exploring India’s cultural and culinary references. The menu is presented as a guided tasting of eight petite cocktails and four full-sized ones, each linked to a memory, landscape, or flavour from different parts of the country.
The name “Dwadash” comes from the Sanskrit word for twelve, reflecting the number of drinks in the sequence. Each cocktail uses locally sourced ingredients and draws on everyday experiences, festive moments, and nostalgic flavours. The idea is to map India’s cultural fabric through drinks, while showing how familiar tastes can be interpreted in new ways.
What’s On The Menu?
The tasting begins with lighter and fresher notes before moving into richer and sweeter flavours. Among the drinks is Champa, a floral palate cleanser inspired by the flowers sold at Mumbai’s Dadar Flower Market. Chaas reimagines the spiced buttermilk found in many Indian homes, served here in cocktail form. Berry Pulav takes reference from the tangy-sweet Parsi dish popular at the city’s Irani cafés. Modak, made with coconut and jaggery, reflects the festive treat offered during Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra.
Other drinks on the menu play with childhood and everyday associations. Paan captures the flavour and fragrance of the after-meal mouth freshener, while Narangi is built around the orange cream biscuits familiar to many from school lunchboxes. Together, the drinks are structured to work as a journey, blending memory with taste.
The 12-course format is designed to guide guests through different moods and styles. Some cocktails are light and cleansing, while others are richer or more indulgent. A mix of modern techniques and classic ingredients is used, but the focus remains on keeping the flavours recognisable.
Dwadash is part of Ekaa’s ingredient-driven approach, where the emphasis is on sourcing from local producers and using elements tied to regional traditions. With this menu, cocktails are not treated as stand-alone drinks but as part of a larger narrative.
For diners, the experience offers an alternative to ordering from a regular drinks list. Instead of individual cocktails, they can follow a set course that moves through twelve distinct preparations. The tasting aims to show how cocktails can carry cultural and emotional associations, not just flavour.
Ekaa’s Dwadash is currently available by reservation, with limited seats each evening, to allow the team to guide guests through the sequence step by step.
The Information
Address: 1st Floor, Kitab Mahal, D Sukhadwala Rd, Azad Maidan, Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001
Phone: 099876 57989
Timings: Tuesday to Sunday, 12:30–3:30 pm, 7 pm–1:30 am
