Cocktail Lounge · Listening Bar

Drink the forest.
Hear the groove.

Indian-botanical cocktails poured by candlelight, records played end-to-end on an all-analogue rig. A 46-seat hideout off 12th Main, Indiranagar.

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The House

Named after the flower that ferments itself.

Deep in central India, the mahua tree drops its honeyed flowers every summer — and for centuries, communities have gathered them at dawn to brew something wild, floral and quietly potent. We took that idea, not the recipe: let what grows here decide what we pour.

Our back-bar reads like a spice bazaar — kokum from the Konkan coast, gondhoraj lime from Bengal, curry leaf, tender coconut, jaggery, saffron from Pampore. Sixteen house infusions, small-batch Indian spirits, and zero imported syrup.

And because a great drink deserves a great record: no playlists, no requests shouted over the bar. One turntable, two Klipsch horns, whole albums — played loud enough to feel, soft enough to talk.

— Ira & Dhruv MalhotraFounders, MAHUA · est. 2021

Bartender infusing a cocktail with smoke and Indian herbs
Rows of glass jars filled with Indian spices and botanicals
Est. 2021 · Indiranagar · 16 botanicals ·
The Ritual

Every pour takes four acts

Nothing at MAHUA is pre-batched into anonymity. Watch the rail — this is the choreography behind each glass.

01

Forage & infuse

Botanicals land twice a week — kokum from Ratnagiri, curry leaf from the Sunday KR Market run. Sixteen infusions steep behind the bar, dated and signed.

02

Build to the record

The stir matches the side playing. Slow ballads get the long spiral; Selector Fridays get the hard shake. Ice is carved to the glass, never scooped.

03

Smoke, mist, seal

Cloches, mitti-attar atomisers and apple-wood chips finish the aromatic pours — always at your table, never behind a pass.

04

First sip, checked

The bartender waits for your first sip. Not right? It goes back, no questions — and the next attempt rides on the house.

Signature System Nº 1

The Cocktail Lab

Tell the bar two things — what you drink and how you feel. Our 12-pour matrix does the rest, live, with the ABV to prove it.

1 Choose your base spirit
2 Pick tonight's mood

Pick a base and a mood — the bar will shortlist two pours from the house matrix of twelve.

The bar is listening…

Your two recommended pours — ingredients, story and strength — will appear right here.

“A bar where the record gets the same respect as the pour.”
Bengaluru After Dark · Best New Lounge 2025
The Listening Room

All-analogue, all night

1,400 records. A Technics SL-1200 pair, valve pre-amp, horn speakers. Sides are played whole — arrive curious.

Now spinning
Miles Davis — Kind of Blue (Side A)
Vinyl records stacked on a turntable
Wed · Analog Baithak
Hindustani × Jazz sides
Shakti, Coltrane, Ali Akbar Khan
Black turntable on a wooden table
Fri · Selector Nights
Guest DJs, 45s only
Funk, disco, Bollywood breaks
Close-up of a spinning vinyl record
Sun · Slow Sundays
Full-album listening
Floyd, RD Burman, Khruangbin
Talk, softlyConversation is welcome — the horns are tuned around it.
Phones on silentFilm the moment if you must; never the whole side.
Sides run ~22 minOrder before the needle drops — service pauses on quiet passages.
0
Records on the wall
0
House botanicals
0
Pours on the matrix
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Seats, never more
Take the whole room

The lounge, yours till close

Launches, listening parties, anniversaries that deserve better than a banquet hall. Forty-six seats, the full record wall, and a bar team briefed on your story — from ₹75,000 on weeknights.

Custom cocktail named for your night
Bring your own records — we'll sequence them
Room seats 46, standing 70
Dedicated lounge captain all evening
Enquire for your date
Signature System Nº 2

Hold a booth

Pick your night, see who's on the deck, choose your corner. We confirm every reservation personally on WhatsApp.

1 Choose your night
On the deck that night
Pick a night to see the lineup
Every evening at MAHUA has its own sound.
2 How many of you?
2
Booths seat 2–8 · larger groups, ping us
3 Where do you want to sit?
4 Who's coming?
Word of Mouth

What the room says

★★★★★

“Asked the Cocktail Lab for whisky + smoky and got the Smoked Maharani. Watched them build it under a cloche while Side B of Kind of Blue played. Nowhere in Bengaluru comes close.”

AN
Ananya N.Koramangala
★★★★★

“Finally — a bar where I can hear my date AND the bassline. Booth Nº 3 on a Wednesday, gondhoraj gimlet in hand. We stayed till last pour and booked next week before leaving.”

RK
Rohan K.HSR Layout
★★★★★

“Took Mumbai friends who claim nothing beats their city's bars. The kokum negroni and the vinyl-only Friday shut the debate down by 9 PM. WhatsApp booking took ninety seconds.”

SI
Shreya I.Indiranagar
Before You Come

Small print, said out loud

Booths, yes — they hold for 15 minutes past your slot. The bar rail is walk-in only and turns over fast; solo drinkers and pairs rarely wait past one record side.

Everything — drinks, zero-proof pours, bar snacks. ₹4,000 across the table, fully adjustable against your bill, not a cover charge. Most parties of four cross it without noticing.

Come as your favourite album cover. We only draw the line at flip-flops and office lanyards — leave the workday at the door.

You can request an album — write it in the ledger by the turntable and the selector will try to work a side into the night. Individual track requests break the room's spell, so we don't take them.

Proudly. The Sober Canopy list mirrors the main matrix — same botanicals, same theatre, ₹495 flat. Designated drivers get their first zero-proof on us.

Valet at the neem tree from 6 PM (₹100). Better: we're a four-minute walk from Indiranagar Metro — and cabs at close are never a problem on 12th Main.

Find Us

Off 12th Main, behind the neem tree

Warmly lit lounge interior with tables and hanging lights
MAHUA — Cocktail Lounge & Listening BarNº 917, 1st Floor, 12th Main Rd, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar, Bengaluru 560008
MondayClosed — the room rests
Tuesday6:00 PM – 1:00 AM
Wednesday6:00 PM – 1:00 AM
Thursday6:00 PM – 1:00 AM
Friday5:00 PM – 1:00 AM
Saturday5:00 PM – 1:00 AM
Sunday4:00 PM – 12:00 AM
+91 86691 17894 — WhatsApp the bar
hello@mahua.bar
@mahua.blr — tonight's record wall, daily
Reserve on WhatsApp Find your pour first
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