This a curious coincidence. Last week, I filed a Spirited Traveller post about spice-infused spirits in Mumbai, informed by insight from the high-spirited Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal, a blogger, writer, and culinary expert based in Mumbai.
Most of the article is about the growing trend for Mumbai bartenders to infuse spirits — particularly vodka — with Indian and Southeast Asian flavours such as roasted cumin, kaffir lime leaves, or bird’s-eye chiles.
The day the article ran, I recieved an email from Rushina: “I thought u might want to have a look see,” she wrote.
Indeed – it was a press release for Masala Mar Ke, a new product from U.S. vodka maker Smirnoff, “with the added zing of tangy lemonade and fiery chaat masala.”
It’s not sold in the U.S., and probably never will be. And I’m drooling over the prospect of getting my hands on a bottle, made more attractive by its sheer elusiveness.
Why do we always want what we can’t have? If you’ve had a great bottle (or cocktail) overseas that you can’t get at home, please feel free to commiserate here. Misery loves company!
Tipple Sheet 