If you thought caffeine-laden energy drinks were just for basketball players, monster truck drivers, and video gamers, you’d be forgiven. Judging by commercials, they seem like the primary consumers.
Long before India’s burgeoning bar scene spawned celebrity mixologists and cocktails with cult renown, the most refreshing, distinctive drinks were made by village grandmothers and at roadside dhabas: puckeringly sour aam panna, made from green mangos, or the musky, beet-red fermented vegetable juice kanji.