On a sultry Saturday evening in May, I took the elevator to the 18th floor of The Ritz-Carlton, Pune, home to Agave Lounge, touted as India’s first bar dedicated entirely to agave spirits. Opened in January 2025, the plush, mood-lit space overlooks the city’s skyline and neighbouring golf course. Most guests had gravitated to the hotel’s rooftop bar, Aasmana, leaving Agave Lounge surprisingly quiet.

It only reinforced the question I had come to answer: Is India ready for a bar built around a single spirit?

The Agave Lounge at The Ritz-Carlton, Pune
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According to the International Wine and Spirits Record (IWSR), India is among the world’s fastest-growing markets for agave spirits. The category recorded 31% year-on-year volume growth and 40% value growth in 2024–25, while sales more than tripled in just four years. Driven by premiumisation and an increasingly sophisticated cocktail culture, tequila has evolved far beyond the sugary shots that once defined it.

Yet agave remains widely misunderstood. Tequila, made exclusively from Blue Weber agave, can only be produced in designated regions of Mexico under a geographical indication (GI). Mezcal, also protected by a denomination of origin, can be distilled from dozens of agave species across specific Mexican states and is often characterised by its smoky profile. Agave itself is the umbrella category — a family of more than 200 species from which tequila, mezcal and other spirits are distilled.

The menu at Agave Lounge features six agave cocktails, each priced at ₹1,200 plus taxes. I began with Cacyas, a bright blend of tequila, watermelon cordial, grapefruit, Aperol, St-Germain and lemon juice that balanced citrus, bitterness and floral notes without overwhelming the spirit. Penca, made with tequila, grated coconut, tonka bean and ginger, was richer and more textured, while the standout, Quiote, layered mezcal with smoky, tropical and tart notes in a clarified cocktail that demonstrated just how nuanced agave can be.

Highball 2.0 at the Agave Lounge
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Today, the programme at Agave Lounge is overseen by beverage manager Damian Goes. "Education is central to the bar’s identity, introducing guests to the nuances of tequila and mezcal through guided recommendations and conversations at the bar. I believe agave has the potential to become a sophisticated post-dinner drink, much like a fine whisky or cognac, as more consumers begin to appreciate its complexity and depth,” he says.

A take on the bloody mary
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Across India, a small but growing number of bars are moving beyond simply serving tequila to teaching drinkers about the wider world of agave. Among them is Quinta Cantina in Goa.

The introduction

Opened in September 2025 as a 35-seat space in Panjim by beverage expert Pankaj Balachandran and restaurateur Puru Agarrwal, Quinta was designed as an educational bar exploring the shared heritage of Goa’s feni and Mexico’s agave spirits. Everything — from weekly tasting flights and rotating “Agave of the Week” and “Feni of the Week” pours to the menu itself — was intended to move guests into conversations about provenance, terroir and craft.

Quinta Cantina
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Unlike high-volume cocktail bars, guests are encouraged to sip rather than shoot tequila, pairing different agave expressions with fruit, gusano salt or lacto-fermented pickles to understand how production methods, agave varieties and terroir shape flavour.

“Very few places in India are talking about Tobalá, Espadín, raicilla or the wider world beyond commercial tequila. We wanted people to understand there is an entire category to discover,” says Pankaj.

At Quinta, agave cocktails sit alongside eight feni-based drinks inspired by culinary traditions shared by Goa and Mexico. Even the food — from Goan-style rawa-fried fish tacos to ros omelette huevos rancheros and pork amsol carnitas tacos — reinforces the dialogue between the two cultures.

The mezcal stash at Quinta
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Pankaj says Quinta attracted two distinct audiences: regulars who returned weekly to explore new spirits and discuss producers, and first-time visitors drawn in by the cocktails before gradually venturing into agave and feni served neat. Its intimate format encouraged conversations between bartenders and guests, helping the bar build a loyal local following.

An Old Fashioned through an agave lens, at Quinta
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Even while the bar remains closed during the monsoon because of accessibility challenges at its Panjim location, the mission continues. Through Quinta Caravan — a travelling series of masterclasses, tastings and guest shifts across four to five Indian cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru — Pankaj is taking the concept on the road.

Spreading the word

If bars like Quinta Cantina are cultivating curiosity around agave, producers are beginning to see that interest translate into demand. Among the earliest movers is Maya Pistola Agavepura, launched in 2022 as Asia’s first aged 100% agave spirit. Crafted from wild Agave americana grown on the Deccan Plateau, the brand has sought to establish a distinct identity for Indian agave rather than positioning itself as tequila.

For founder Rakshay Dhariwal, the biggest shift is how Indian are drinking the spirit.

“A few years ago, tequila was largely associated with low-quality mixtos meant for shots. Today, evolved drinkers are sipping 100% agave spirits the way they would a single malt,” he says.

Consumers, he believes, are paying closer attention to provenance, production methods and authenticity, with premium 100% agave spirits steadily replacing mixto tequilas among discerning drinkers.

At Una Hacienda in Bengaluru
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To challenge long-held misconceptions — that agave spirits are only meant to be slammed as shots, or that authentic agave can only come from Mexico — Maya Pistola has invested heavily in bartender training, blind tastings, blending workshops and its Secret Agave Club. The goal is to encourage consumers to see agave as a sipping spirit rather than simply a cocktail ingredient.

The strategy appears to be paying off. Maya Pistola recorded 68% volume growth and 95% growth in net sales value in the last financial year, with Gurugram, Chandigarh and Goa emerging as its strongest markets.

At Una Hacienda in Bengaluru
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“Tier-I cities and five-star standalone venues are leading the charge,” says Rakshay, “but curiosity is rippling outward as cocktail culture expands across the country.”

The demand

Across India’s bar scene, a growing number of venues see themselves not merely as places to drink, but as spaces where consumers learn to appreciate the spirit in all its complexity.

When Agave Room opened in New Delhi in 2024, it positioned itself as more than a tequila bar. Conceived as a destination dedicated to agave spirits, it was built on the belief that tequila and mezcal deserve the same reverence long afforded to whisky, gin and wine. Co-founder Vijay Prakash says the ambition was never simply to open another cocktail bar.

Agave Room in Delhi
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“It was to redefine how people experience spirits. For years, Delhi’s premium bar scene celebrated whisky, gin and fine dining, while tequila remained largely misunderstood, reduced to quick shots and predictable margaritas.”

Rather than treating education like a lecture, Agave Room encourages discovery through conversation, guided tastings and carefully crafted cocktails.

At the bar inside Agave Room in Delhi
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Guests increasingly arrive with questions that would have been unusual just a few years ago. “The strongest indicator that the category is evolving is curiosity,” says Vijay, adding, “people are no longer just asking what tequila they’re drinking — they’re asking which agave it comes from, whether it’s additive-free and how it differs from mezcal.”

In Bengaluru, however, Una Hacienda is taking a broader view of Latin America’s drinking traditions. Launched on Lavelle Road in 2025, it does not position itself as a dedicated agave bar. Founder Arijit Bose has built the programme around Latin America’s diverse spirits — tequila, mezcal, pisco, cachaça and rum.

Arijit believes agave is driving the biggest shift in India’s drinking culture. “The gin revolution has given way to a tequila resurgence — not as a shot with salt and lime, but as a drinking experience and a collectible,” he says.

Inside Una Hacienda
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While tequila remains the best-known Latin American spirit, the growing availability of premium labels has encouraged bars to build entire programmes around the category rather than treating it as another bottle on the back bar.

That shift is reflected in what people order.

“Cocktails are still the gateway. The picante is the front-runner, followed by margaritas, Oaxaca old fashioneds and palomas,” says Arijit. But he has also seen guests become more adventurous.

Inside Una Hacienda
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“People ask for tequila by brand now, and they’re far more willing to experiment with new labels entering the market,” says Arijit. Mezcal remains a more niche proposition because of its price, although Arijit believes India’s affinity for bold flavours gives it enormous long-term potential. Indian agave spirits typically retail for ₹3,500–₹6,000, while imported 100% agave tequilas cost ₹8,000–₹12,000. Mezcal is pricier still, often ₹10,000–₹16,000, owing to its small-batch production, limited imports and India’s high import duties and state excise taxes. According to Mexico’s Cámara Nacional de la Industria Tequilera, tequila entering India faces import tariffs of up to 150%, further inflating retail prices.

El Pastor 2.0 with house agave, ancho chillies, verde cordial, fresh jalapeño, lime, at Una Hacienda
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The question, then, is no longer whether India is ready for agave. It is whether Indian drinkers are ready to discover everything that lies beyond tequila.