AFTER DARK

India’s Sunshine State now offers more than raucous beach parties and nightclubs, thanks to a crop of new bars, homegrown breweries, and craft distillers.

Where to find live music, artisanal brews, and susegad in Goa.

Derived from sossegado, a Portuguese word for “quiet,” the Goan notion of susegad refers to a laidback, unhurried attitude toward life. Until recently, though, the nightlife scene in India’s smallest state was anything but. During the 2000s, tourists flocked to hilltop neon-lit raves featuring trance and techno music. Then the party scene moved indoors to clubs and bars where people danced to commercial tunes until the wee hours of the morning. But things are changing now with a bevy of new bars and chic restaurants offering travelers other options such as live music, jazz nights, and an easygoing atmosphere. Goa is growing up.

Case in point: Mahé ( fb.com/mahegoa), a finedining venue that occupies a handsomely restored 19th-century Indo-Portuguese house in Anjuna village. Aside from indoor and alfresco seating, there’s an elegant bar plus a well-curated fashion boutique on the premises. The place launched in January and celebrates all things coastal, with a special focus on seafood and a cocktail menu—created by Abhishek George of Singapore’s The Spiffy Dapper—that celebrates regional ingredients like tangy kokum fruit (a relative of the mangosteen) and a bitter herb called

chiretta. In a rare combination for Goa, Mahé’s bar serves its drinks against a backdrop of vintage tiles, thin pendant lights, and sleek wire furniture as local musicians provide acoustic entertainment. Across the Chapora River in Morjim, there’s The

Rice Mill ( fb.com/thericemill), a quiet café-cum-bar owned by Panaji-based architect Raya Shankhwalker. Such is Shankhwalker’s love for heritage preservation that he has transformed the village’s 1955-built rice mill into a neighborhood hangout characterized by exposed laterite-brick walls, teal-painted window frames and shutters, and a tiled roof with glass inserts that let in shafts of natural light. Saturdays see a consistently high turnout for The Rice Mill’s live jazz nights, best enjoyed with a tipple from the extensive drinks list. The liquor selection here boasts the full range of Goan spirits, including feni, a beloved firewater made from cashew fruit or palm sap.

It’s no coincidence that Goa happens to be the

epicenter of small-batch alcohol production in India. The state’s relaxed brewing laws and lower taxes have created an ideal environment for a multitude of craft spirit distilleries and breweries, most of whose products also happen to be easy on the wallet. The global “gin-naissance” has left its mark here with the launch of labels like Greater Than and Hapusa by Margaobased Nao Spirits ( naospirits.com), as well as Third Eye Distillery’s Stranger & Sons ( strangerandsons.com), whose nine “rather peculiar botanicals” include three kinds of citrus peels: Indian limes, sweet limes grown in Third Eye’s own garden, and fragrant Gondhoraj lemons from Kolkata. Apart from gin, there are several native spirits being elevated to artisanal status too. Hansel Vaz, head of the family-owned Cazulo ( cazulo

feni.com) distillery in Cansaulim, is producing premium aged feni; while agave expert Desmond Nazareth is using mahua blossoms to create a forest-to-bottle spirit and liqueur for his DesmondJi ( desmondji.com) brand.

Be sure to try those on your next visit, but don’t forget about new craft beers like Eight Finger Eddie IPA by Goa Brewing Co. and the tropically inspired mango wheat ale from homegrown brewers Susegado. You’ll find these on the menu at EscoBar ( Ba

dem Junction), a low-key roadside pub in Assagao. With open-air seating, fairy lights, graffiti art, and a newly built skate park, this is the perfect spot to channel susegad in Goa. Owners Anant and Terrence are often spotted shooting the breeze or mixing drinks (their kombucha cocktail is especially popular), and finger-licking bar snacks like Goan chicken cafreal with poi bread are sure to hit the spot. Also in Assagao is The Project Café Goa ( theprojectcafe.in), a creative hub set up in an old mansion that comprises a sixroom hotel, art gallery, restaurant, and outdoor café. Here, a changing roster of artistic events led by singersongwriters, authors, and painters draws an eclectic, international crowd. Not all that is chill in Goa is brand-new, however.

Joseph Bar ( fb.com/josephbarpanjim), a closet-size haunt in Panaji’s old Fontainhas neighborhood, has been around since the 1970s, but was given a new lease on life two years ago when, after the passing of its eponymous owner, a local tour operator and regular customer by the name of Atish Fernandes stepped in to keep the operation going. Joseph today is a must-visit for anyone who wants the ultimate Goan experience, whether to drink stiff feni with the local clientele, sample snacks made by neighborhood aunties, or meet Gundu, a legendary bartender in these parts. Which goes to show that even in India’s Sunshine State, it pays to get away from the beach every now and again.

Above, from left: The Rice Mill in Morjim combines nostalgic charm with Goan café fare and well-loved jazz nights; Chandigarhbased jazz and folk musician Nipun Cheema during a performance at Assagao’s The Project Café.

Clockwise from far left: Prawn curry at Mahé, where cocktails like the feni- laced Negroni de Goa are muddled with local ingredients; Gundu, the charismatic bartender at Joseph Bar, is reason alone to seek out this watering hole in Panaji’s historic Latin quarter; garden seating at Mahé.