- Name: Aditya Tribhuvan
- Instagram: @spiritheory
- Industry Experience: 14 years
- Favourite Drink: Mostly Negroni, but when he’s overwhelmed or overstimulated, he prefers a vodka soda
- Favourite Non-Alcoholic Drink: A glass of ice with chilled coke and a squeeze of lime
Humble, honest and hardworking, Mumbai-born and bred Aditya Tribhuvan may have won the Best Bartender in 2024-2025, but he tells us shyly over the course of our interview: “I’m just a very basic, normal guy.”
Hailing from the Vikhroli suburb in Mumbai, Aditya’s foray into the world of bartending started by pure accident. Sheepishly yet candidly, Aditya admits that bartending wasn’t really a conscious career choice, “It’s actually laziness.”
A musician and rapper in his college days, the award-winning bartender had his first brush with bartending while working as a server at The Barking Deer in Lower Parel. When the bartending staff was short, his manager asked him to fill in. Happy to be on his feet standing rather than running around serving people, Aditya got drawn in with the excitement and mesmerizing world of creating cocktails. “I’m actually an accidental bartender,” he admits.
Now the head mixologist at Hideaway in Vagator, Goa, his bar and his team came 5th in the 30 Best Bars in 2024 and 2025.
However, Aditya belongs to a new generation of the hospitality industry that firmly believes in allowing staff to have a freedom in how they present themselves to guests. Moreover, he strongly advocates a 9-hour shift for his team members, rather than the grueling 12-hour shift that most are hired for. In his own bar, he strictly ensures no staff works beyond 10 hours.
He also advocates providing a good salary to his team. These three things, he explains, helps him retain staff and minimize turnover.
Aditya also deep dives into his strong social media game, which he attributes to his mantra, “A bartender can’t just be a bartender. I tell this to my team as well.” The charismatic mixologist emphasizes that a good bartender must, besides making mouth-watering drinks, know how to click good photographs, be a good conversationalist, and have a basic understanding of video editing skills.
Putting yourself out there daily, he clarifies, drives word of mouth (and guests) to your bar.
Controversially, but quite frankly, Aditya reveals his take on awards: “I think we should stop with the awards.” Why does an award-winning bartender take such a defiant stance? Well, he believes that while awards do help in providing recognition to your business, most people are now focused on winning awards and competing in a sort of rat race rather than building a sense of community and belonging.
Community building, he emphasizes, and a focus on the guests, are what bartending is all about. “If tomorrow the guests don’t exist, what are we then?” he questions.
He’s also excited about telling us his idea of doing a community gathering focusing on education, collaboration and community building in the hospitality industry. He hopes to draw in chefs, photographers, filmmakers and people in varied professions to help bartenders grow, learn and network with each other.
- Written by Nemisha Sharma
