- Name: Ashitosh Narayanan
- Instagram: @justadashof_ash_
- Industry Experience: 13 years
- Favourite Drink: He loves the versatility of gin and it’s his favourite spirit to work with. The first cocktail he ever made was with it.
- Favourite Non-Alcoholic Drink: Coffee
Ashitosh Narayanan was just about any confused 21-year-old boy before accidentally becoming a bartender. The extroverted young lad loved music and decided to become a DJ after enrolling for DJ-ing classes. But fate had other plans for him. His best friend, who had enrolled for bartending school, frequently bragged about attending concerts and events. Curious, and perhaps a little jealous, Ashitosh signed up for bartending school. He’d attend bartending classes in the mornings and DJ-ing classes at night. Within four months, he knew — he was meant to be a bartender.
This happy accident paved the way for a successful career dotted with numerous opportunities. He credits his journey to being present at the right place and at the right time. He’s done everything a budding young mixologist can dream of: Ashitosh has worked at bustling bars like La Loca Maria, Ellipsis, Grand Millenium in Dubai, Bastian Hospitality (previously Aallia Hospitality). Within two years of his career, he went from becoming a humble bartender to a bar manager before embracing his role as a brand ambassador (BA) for Bacardi’s global portfolio. He represents rum, whisky, gin, tequila, liqueur, spirits, and vermouths.
Running a bar and being an ambassador are two very different things: In one, Ashitosh tells us, you are thinking about just one bar, and in another, you’re thinking of an entire industry. You’re working with different bars, different bartenders, and communities. As a brand ambassador, you need to use your platform and create something that is relevant and beneficial for a larger community. Interestingly, he was appointed the first Bacardi ambassador in the East of India.
Today, he trains a multitude of bartenders. So, we asked him what skill or instinct from behind the bar still shapes how he trains bartenders now. Ashitosh enthusiastically states how his killer instincts and intuition have been the biggest asset throughout his career. He has heavily relied on it, both personally and professionally. Another skill? He is a master at reading a person or a room full of people. “I always try to make sure the bartenders understand why they are behind the bar and why they are doing all of this,” he says.
He also stressed the importance of remembering recipes and recalling each at the top of your head. He also encourages the younger generation of mixologists to read, research and then read some more. Books, he says, help inspire bartenders, rather than just copy-paste recipes from the Internet and social media.
Another crucial element of being a bartender that we spoke to Ashitosh about, that few seasoned bartenders tend to emphasize, is the need to read the guest well and ensure they have a good time. At the end of the day, a guest doesn’t care about whether you have a centrifuge or made this drink using a rotovap. All they care about is whether they get a good drink, have a memorable experience, and their bartender has answers to any questions they might have.
Consumer trends have also changed, with a Bacardi 2026 cocktail trend report highlighting that young Indian drinkers are getting more curious about their drinks. He explained that consumers want to discover something that fits their personality or the occasion they are celebrating. People are also willing to experiment and learn about the ingredients and various components of their favourite beverage.
Steering the conversation to Bacardi, we asked him why Bacardi was moving from sponsoring big events to smaller pop-ups and Ashitosh’s answer was revealing: They want to move from visibility to relevance. Since trends are changing and consumers are getting more curious, Bacardi wants to implement a more experiential format. Focusing on consumer experience rather than just brand visibility and recall, the brand wants to reach consumers.
Called “liquid to lips,” the new experience encompasses DIY masterclasses, Dewar’s Dinners or smaller popups with Bacardi and its variants. While they still sponsor big events, the brand has hosted these smaller, more intimate popups throughout the year to help consumers experience and appreciate a spirit.
As if this conversation wasn’t scintillating enough, our next question certainly made us sit up and listen to his POV. We questioned Ashitosh about how Indian bartenders fare in the global market. Since he’s worked extensively in bars both in India and Dubai, he seemed like the right man to pose such a question.
Making us smile he said, “You must be familiar with this Indian word ‘jugaad,’ which, in English, in a nicer way, means adaptability,” he divulges, “so our Indian bartenders are very adaptable and resourceful especially working with equipment constraints. They even adapt well to budget, ingredients, and manpower constraints.”
In contrast, Indian bartenders lack consistency and professionalism in the global market, Ashitosh explains. He mused that it could well be a mentorship issue since many budding mixologists fail to work alongside a mentor and gain valuable experience, knowledge, and build life-long connections.
He also reiterated the importance of having a balance between being creative and knowing the commercial side of your business. Talent alone cannot sustain a business for a long time. You should have an acute understanding of how a bar runs.
As a BA we were curious to pose a pertinent question to Ashitosh: He represents a bevy of spirits for Bacardi, what lessons from one category changed his thinking about another category or spirits? “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to stop thinking in categories,” he answers assertively, “start thinking about the consumer, specifically, consumer trends.” A consumer is focused on the taste of the product, very few are true connoisseurs of a particular spirit. He explains that it’s the consumer who decides what spirit they want to consume or what flavour profile they are looking for.
We didn’t want the conversation to end! But we still had a query to probe him on: What advice would he give an aspiring bartender who eventually wants to become a brand ambassador? Here Ashitosh gives us his pearls of wisdom. “First, there is so much more to bartending than making drinks,” he answers.
Before he delves into the explanation of this engaging question, he tells us of his story of how opportunities came knocking at his door – and he said yes. Ashitosh was on career high, having worked in bars with stellar teams. But then in 2020, when COVID hit, his contract with a Dubai bar was terminated. He went back to India and for 8 months was unemployed. A bartender with over 5 years of experience under his belt was not getting work. He was dejected, but in a bid to make rent, worked at a call centre.
While working at the centre, he made many acquaintances. Some of them were airhostess from Qatar who were also unemployed at that time. The airhostesses gently suggested to Ashitosh to apply for the position of a Beverage specialist at Emporio Armani at the Doha airport and duty free. Flights were back in operations, and the Qatar stewardesses were going back to work next month. He applied for the position and got it.
What he thought was the lowest point of his career turned out to be a learning opportunity. From therein he got the chance to open La Loca Maria and came back to India from Qatar.
“What really shaped my career is willing to take opportunities that I never knew would lead me somewhere,” he reminiscences, “Being a good bartender does not automatically make you a good brand ambassador.” He advises people to first learn how to communicate, be present everywhere, and show up for events (build connections in the industry), and understand the commercial side of running a business. Most importantly, “The biggest role of an ambassador, I feel, is building relationships,” he says. “Don’t take the role of brand ambassador lightly — it’s a heavy suit to carry,” he concludes.
For those seeking to be BAs, it’s essential they get the basics of bartending right. Besides the fundamentals, an understanding of what goes in opening and running a bar from the ground up is the key to being a good BA. “Have you seen a bar when it is in construction?” he asks, “Have you gone where there are mud and dust everywhere? Have you seen the designs? Have you dealt with vendors or actual consumers?” — these are the questions he poses to future brand ambassadors.
He recommends future BAs learn the brick-and-mortar aspect of opening and operating a bar before considering the jump to ambassadorship. Simply working in 1-2 bars fresh out of bartending school may not give you the experience you need to tackle this role.
- Written by Nemisha Sharma
