Dark rum, yuzu ponzu, allspice dram & toasted sesame — Musaafer NYC/Houston
Musaafer's cocktail programme at the SAAQI bar is named after the Urdu word for 'the bar-keeper' and takes its cues from the Silk Road tradition: the interchange of goods, spices, and ideas between India, the Middle East, and East Asia. Sikki (the North Indian art of weaving dried grass into intricate baskets and figures) inspires the drink's principle: taking distinct elements — Japanese yuzu citrus, Caribbean allspice, Indian rum — and weaving them into something unified and beautiful.
Yuzu ponzu is available at Asian grocery stores and most Japanese supermarkets. For the cleanest result, use straight yuzu juice rather than ponzu (which adds a slight soy-sauce savouriness that some drinkers find unexpected). Allspice dram (also called pimento dram) is a Jamaican spice liqueur with a warming clove-cinnamon-pepper flavour — it is one of the most underused cocktail ingredients and adds remarkable depth here.
Musaafer ('traveller' in Urdu) is the flagship of Houston's Indian fine dining scene, with SAAQI — its dedicated cocktail bar — as one of the most ambitious Indian bar programmes in the United States. Head bartender Bhavna Bhatt has built a menu that treats Indian spirits (Old Monk, Amrut, Paul John), syrups, and infusions as equal partners with global classics. The cocktail menu here is as serious as the kitchen.
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