Shandy launch

Shandy: The collaboration that has just chilled the summer

All good stories almost always begin with “Once upon a time” and this one begins in Britain in the 1950s. Beer a traditional favourite was mixed for the first time with ginger ale and called ‘Shandygaff’, which was shortened to  ‘Shandy’.

Over the years, many of us have been initiated into beer via Shandy (with lemonade mixed with beer)

At Latambarcem professionally made and bottled shandy was there for the taking. A game-changing collaboration took place when we brought our pure unfiltered crispy Maka lager and the lemonade from Borecha to make vintage shandy, the quintessential low alcohol refreshing sparkling summer drink.

This is also in keeping with a global trend of the best breweries brewing beer mixed drinks. Bavaria, the home of “German purity law” loves to mix its beer with soda and bottle it. This genre of drinks is called biermischgetränke, or beer mixed drinks, such as Radlers and Diesels.

Said Aditya Ishan Varshnei, the CEO of Latambarcem Breweries “The world over people are looking at easy drinking low alcoholic solutions. The lager and lemonade combo (lager-ade) which we are introducing as Shandy is an offering we believe will do well in Goa and elsewhere, as a low alcohol functional beverage, when we enter other cities”.

So folks the summer got chilled. The Maka Shandy is here.

Maka Di Bengaluru Launch

Three months is actually a long time in a galaxy. As the calendar ticked over and 2021 happened, it was time to move. And move out. To travel. To traverse. To explore and find.

The Bengaluru boys: (L-R) Edgeware Vemala, Dushyant Chillale, Dheeraj Rajdev, Vinay Nagaraju, Arindam Som.
We decided to take the giant leap and move out of Goa in our voyage of discovery.  And where did we land? In the land of beer and beer making- Bengaluru, a city which has the most discerning craft beer audience.
This was our test of being the first and best large scale craft brewery in India. And we were testing ourselves in the most competitive of markets. Speaking to Brewer World, a widely-read digital speciality magazine covering the beer and brewing universe in India, Aditya Ishan Varshnei, Co-Founder and CEO of Latambarcem Brewers had said, “Bengaluru has, without much argument, the country’s most knowledgeable and discerning craft beer connoisseurs. Their presence encourages the breweries to constantly engage and challenge them. Maka finds this environment very encouraging. As a craft beer brand manufactured in a full-scale brewery as opposed to a micro-brewery, we would like to play a significant role in the bottled craft beer space, and use our research and innovation to offer new variants and products for Namma Bengaluru.”
Cracked open!: Bengaluru says cheers to Maka.
Bengaluru says cheers to Maka.
It was now time to have the first of our interactions with the people of Bengaluru.
Dheeraj Rajdev, Head of Sales and Marketing South India, Lattambarcem Brewers, commenting on the brand moving to his neck of the woods said “Due to recent work pattern changes during COVID, crowded places are being avoided. Options of having top class European style beers gives them an opportunity- to indulge at their home instead of travelling to the breweries” He added “Post Bengaluru we look forward to a larger domain by heading to Manipal, Mangalore, Mysore and Belgaum in the upcoming quarters”.
Beer. Bonding. Banter: (L-R) Sarika Varshnei with Kerwin Savio Nigli and Aslam Gafoor.
The launch itself happened on a cool Sunday Bengaluru morning in January. The guests were an eclectic bunch, who enrich Bengaluru, drawn from walks of life, writers, journalists, social media supremos. Academics but above all serious craft beer enthusiasts. Maka was well and truly in “NAMMA BENGALURU”!
Influencer Overdrive: (L-R) Nivedith Gajapathy, Deepa Shri Rajan and Husna Sait
Movers and Shakers: (L-R) Anurag Mallick with Namita Gupta