Liquor companies have found an unlikely new hero flavour: the humble jamun.
The fruit most commonly associated with roadside vendors, leaf bowls and copious quantities of black salt during the monsoon has emerged as one of the liquor industry’s hottest flavour bets. Jamun has found its way into craft gin and vodka bottles as spirit makers look to localize global brands and stand out in a crowded flavour market.
The once-overlooked fruit now finds shelf space across price points and spirit categories with liquor companies moving quickly to cash in. Diageo India made a ₹100 crore bet on flavoured spirits led by Smirnoff Minty Jamun in July last year and introduced Magic Moments Jamun SpicyMint in September last year.
Premium craft label Samsara launched ‘Enchanted Jamun & Pink Salt’ late last year and Inbrew Beverages launched Romanov Jazzy Jamun Mint last month. Last week, Delhi-based Alcobrew came out with its jamun vodka.
Mint that companies have moved beyond conventional citrus and berry flavours in favour of indigenous ingredients and are experimenting with kaccha aam, chilli mango, kokum, saffron and regional botanicals.
Industry executives said though that no flavour has caught on as quickly as jamun. Ashutosh Rajput, chief operating officer at Alcobrew Distilleries India Ltd, told Mint flavoured vodka is the biggest growth opportunity within a category that remains underpenetrated in India compared with developed markets.
“Flavour is doing what packaging and pricing used to do – and has become the primary lever for innovation and growth,” Rajput said. The country’s hot climate and the rise of cocktail culture and consumers’ growing appetite for lighter, more experimental drinks has helped expand the flavoured white spirits category.
“Most flavour launches chase novelty; we chase familiarity because that helps in sales,” Rajput said, adding that jamun has the potential to become a distinctly Indian flavour with broader appeal, much like mint or citrus globally.
Fast-growing flavours
While gin numbers are still small overall, flavoured vodka continues to outpace the broader vodka category. The country consumed about 16 million cases (of 9 litres each) of vodka in 2025, of which flavoured variants accounted for almost 10 million cases, according to the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC).
Plain vodka is growing at about 10% annually, flavoured vodka is expanding at 16%, making it one of the quickest-growing segments in spirits. A break-up of flavour-wise sales was not available.
“A few years ago, cranberry was the flavour that caught the fancy of consumers and companies. Today, that has been replaced by jamun. Companies can also charge a premium where they can’t on the plain spirit,” said Anant S. Iyer, director general of CIABC.
During Diageo India’s recent earnings call, managing director Praveen Someshwar said Smirnoff’s flavour-led portfolio had entered the ₹100 crore club, with innovations such as Minty Jamun delivering record monthly volumes. He said the variant had become the primary growth engine for the Smirnoff trademark and the company’s ‘Whites’ portfolio, helping India become one of Smirnoff’s top five markets globally.
Poonam Chandel, industry veteran and former managing director of Neuworld Spirits, said the fruit has primarily renewed interest in existing brands.
“Jamun has been a reviver for Smirnoff because the brand was almost dead. The lively colour, tart taste and heavy digital marketing worked. But what followed was largely reactive. Competitors got rattled and rushed to launch their own jamun variants,” she said.
She said consumers have largely migrated from older flavoured vodkas and the category itself has not expanded, suggesting the industry’s purple rush may be redistributing demand instead of creating it.
Innovation, not price
Even so, the speed with which jamun has travelled from a seasonal fruit to a flavour may be indicative of a broader shift underway in the alcohol business. As growth increasingly depends on innovation rather than price, companies are mining India’s pantry for ideas that global flavour palettes cannot easily replicate.
Radico Khaitan said the jamun expression has emerged as one of the strongest-performing additions to its portfolio, encouraging a wider rollout across states.
Spaceman Spirits Lab said it sold about 48,000 bottles of its Jamun & Pink Salt gin since its launch in March, led by markets in Goa, Delhi and Mumbai. The idea behind the product came from a familiar ritual of eating fresh jamun sprinkled with salt, said Aditya Aggarwal, founder and chief executive officer of Spaceman Spirits Lab.
“Consumers are increasingly looking for premium products that reflect local flavours and culture. Jamun isn’t just another flavour. It’s a uniquely Indian ingredient with deep emotional familiarity. When paired with thoughtful product development, it has the potential to become one of the defining flavour signatures of premium Indian spirits,” said Aggarwal.
Inbrew Beverages said consumers are increasingly seeking culturally relevant flavours and differentiated drinking experiences. Sumit Tiwari, general manager, marketing, of the company called this a hyperlocal flavour. He added that flavour innovations are increasingly becoming a key differentiator in the spirits industry.
For companies, the appeal is straightforward because the fruit has a tart, slightly astringent profile that works well in cocktails, while its deep purple colour stands out on retail shelves. It taps into nostalgia as younger consumers look for flavours that feel authentic rather than imported. Local ingredients also allow brands to tell distinctly Indian stories in a market where premiumization has become the biggest growth driver.
So, is jamun just the flavour of the season that will fade just as cranberry did or will it be a flavour that sustains sales for liquor companies?
“I won’t call it a fad. The colour is very enticing and the tartness is suited to the Indian palate, but yes, it is another flavour that will get replaced as soon as somebody is able to find another likeable flavour that has a unique colour too,” Chandel said. “This one is poised to stay because after a lot of pinks, this colour is a welcome change.”