As consumer tastes change, new cocktail formats find their place

RTB Consumer Brands, the company behind Pour’d Cocktails, has won two honors at the Spiritz Achievers’ Awards 2026. It was named Alcobev Startup of the Year, and it won Product Launch of the Year for Pour’d Picante and Mojito. Winners in the Excellence Awards categories were chosen through a blind tasting followed by jury deliberation.

The recognition reflects a wider shift in India’s alcobev industry. A growing number of homegrown startups are challenging a market long dominated by established brands and conventional formats. They are introducing new products built around how younger, urban consumers actually socialise. Ready-to-serve cocktails are one of the clearest examples. IWSR projects that India’s ready-to-drink segment will grow at a compound annual rate of about 6% through 2034, ahead of several traditional beverage alcohol categories (Beverage Daily, September 2026).

Consumer tastes are also moving. Flavored spirits, botanical gins and cocktail-led drinking have gained ground as Indian drinkers explore beyond straight pours and familiar mixers. Many are looking for variety, discovery and experiences they once found only at bars. 

Until recently, cocktails meant going out or mixing drinks at home. Ready-to-serve formats offer a third option: a pre-mixed, bottled cocktail, ready to pour over ice or top up with soda, cola or water. Several international and domestic brands have entered the space over the past year. Analysts, including Euromonitor, note that state-level taxation and regulation still limit how quickly the category can scale.

“Indian drinkers today are more curious and more experimental than ever. You can see it in the rise of flavoured spirits and in how quickly cocktail culture has grown beyond bars,” said Sahith Sethuraman, co-founder, RTB Consumer Brands. “We build all our cocktails to taste the way they would at a good bar, every single time, and winning a blind tasting tells us that consistency comes through in the glass. It’s also encouraging to see Indian startups being recognised for bringing new formats to a category that hasn’t changed much in decades. There’s a lot of room to grow from here.”

Recently founded, Pour’d set out to make bar-style cocktails available beyond bars and restaurants. Its range removes the preparation involved in making cocktails at home while keeping the character of classic recipes.

Pour’d is a ready-to-drink cocktail brand from RTB Consumer Brands that brings bar-quality cocktails home. Three friends who share a love of great cocktails and good company founded it. The brand makes full-strength, balanced bottled cocktails with premium spirits, built on quality, consistency and convenience.