![\"Revolver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-01-100907-640x424.png\")
<\/p>\nKenya\u2019s cocktail scene is fast-developing, with Nairobi\u2019s first official Bartender Week kicking off tomorrow. But when Anup Devani founded Revolver in 2019 it was \u201cbarely a thing\u201d. db catches up with the clinical-geneticist-cocktail-maestro about the capital\u2019s changing drinking culture.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI remember this one very strange day\u2026\u201d recalls Anup Devani.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was 2021. I was at my lab, sitting across the desk from a lady. She\u2019s pregnant, and wants to make sure everything is fine with the baby.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo there I was, doing genetic counseling with her, explaining all the things that were right or wrong. After I was done, I arrived at the restaurant-side at about 5pm, and she was sitting there with a friend. She looked at me, like, \u2018why are you here? No, that\u2019s really weird\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
And who can blame her? It\u2019s not every day you find out your clinical geneticist also heads up a speakeasy bar in Nairobi.<\/p>\n
The art of precision
\n![\"Revolver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_2543-1-640x427.jpg\")
Anup Devani opened Revolver in 2019 with his wife and sister-in-law<\/p>\n
Days at the lab, nights spent mixing cocktails. It\u2019s a double-life to make even Batman blush. But the jobs are more similar than first meets the eye: \u201cI do like to be very precise,\u201d says Devani. \u201cObviously creating a cocktail has a bit more artistry, but once the recipe is set, I like the specificity and accuracy of being able to remake that same drink over and over again and not suffer any disparities in quality each time. Understanding the liquids from a chemical perspective and also from that practical aspect, the two actually go together pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Devani opened Revolver in 2019 with his wife (dentist) and sister-in-law (doctor). Aside from a week pulling pints at the University of Surrey, he\u2019d never really worked in hospitality. Taking matters into his own hands, Devani honeymooned around the States with his wife, touring high-end establishments. Arriving back in Nairobi, he felt he had a pretty good grip of what made a great bar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Recently penned by journalist Eddy Ashioya as \u201ca boudoir with a 1920s gangland, bootlegger aesthetic\u201d(Business Daily)<\/a>, luxury is the name of the game at Revolver. Its cocktail list ranges from modern, to \u2018classic\u2019 and \u2018premium\u2019, and covers one of the country\u2019s most impressive selections of Scotch. A seasonal menu centres round a theme. Now, it takes guests on a trip round the world with global cocktails under \u2018Provenance\u2019, but previously \u2018Rock n\u2019 Roll\u2019 drew inspiration from songs played at the bar.<\/p>\n From sweet serves to craft territory When Devani founded the bar, cocktail culture in Nairobi was \u201cbarely a thing\u201d. He looks back: \u201cIt was all just very sweet, sugary, pink drinks.\u201d Now, the bar scene\u2019s fast-developing, with a burgeoning zeal for balanced cocktails and premium, local spirits.<\/p>\n Kenya Bartender Week, the first of its kind in the country, will run from 2 to 8 September this year for instance, spotlighting the upcoming talent in Nairobi\u2019s cocktail scene, with the inaugural event launched at the stylish Hero Bar in Village Market. Devani is also a cocktail consultant, and judged the Kenyan arm of Diageo\u2019s World Class Cocktail Competition in April. He was impressed by what he saw, with establishments like Jekyll and Hyde and Cultiva\u00a0 \u201cpushing away from that sweet, sickly cocktail into legitimate craft territory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n And then there\u2019re the spirits producers, bagging awards up and down the country. \u201cEvery premium spirits manufacturer opened after we opened, so we\u2019ve been part of the journey with every single one of them so far,\u201d he says. There\u2019s Procera Gin, Kenya\u2019s first craft distillery, that uses a type of juniper indigenous the Ethiopian and Kenyan islands<\/a>, gaining traction in the national and international market. Devani gestures to a sea of handcrafted bottles behind him: \u201cThey\u2019ve done incredibly well for themselves.\u201d Then there\u2019s Bahari Rum, which uses Kenyan molasses and old rum aged in American casks. They make special editions for Devani, who in turn, helps train their staff.<\/p>\n Nairobi\u2019s shifting drinking scene \u201cClassically, there\u2019s been a bit of a binge drinking culture here,\u201d explains Devani. \u201cYou drink after work on a Thursday, and you don\u2019t recover under Monday night, you just keep on going. But people are starting to get the hang of the idea that sometimes you can go out and have a good time without sacrificing your entire weekend for it. People want to drink less, but they want better quality.\u201d<\/p>\n He charges a premium for shots, for instance. \u201cSomething we try to get across when people come here for the first time is, we\u2019re not a means to an end to get drunk. We\u2019re using alcohol to provide you with a wonderful, broad palette of flavour, which is something that alcohol does that very few things we eat or drink can.\u201d<\/p>\n At first, Revolver, based in Nairobi\u2019s affluent Spring Valley neighbourhood, was a honeypot for expats, well-versed in the practice of cocktail consumption. But after recent exposure in the press, there\u2019s been an influx of locals through the doors. \u201cThey\u2019re very appreciative\u201d, comments Devani. When a guest comes to the bar, the experience is \u201calways interactive\u201d, he continues. Ever a scientist, Devani\u2019s keen to iron out the specifics: \u201c\u2018Do you like it a little sweeter? A little not?\u2019 You like to get it right the first time round\u201d.<\/p>\n And he\u2019s always on the hunt for local ingredients, like tamarind and baobab, when outside of the capital. Produce, in Nairobi, can be \u201cpretty run of the mill stuff\u201d. But that\u2019s just one challenge that comes with operating in Nairobi. Heavy taxation and ever-changing government policies are also issues. In July, a sweeping plan that proposed banning the purchasing of alcohol in restaurants, supermarkets and public transport across Kenya, sparked major backlash.<\/p>\n \u2018I make a brand new friend every night\u2019 Revolver is also subject to a slew of inspections from various authorities. \u201cEven though they know we\u2019re well in line and doing everything the correct way, they\u2019ll still come in and try and find something very minuscule then try and leverage that to make some money off of you. So the cost of doing business is more than what your top line says, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, looking forward, Devani predicts that Nairobi will become a destination city. For the geneticist, all the best bars have a \u201cdeep, defined sense of identity\u201d. It\u2019s all about saying \u201cthis is what we are, this is what we do and this is how we do it, and it\u2019s up to you to take it or leave it.\u201d<\/p>\n But would he ever quit his day job? \u201cProbably not,\u201d he admits. \u201cI\u2019m pretty old. My joints hurt in the morning when I\u2019ve had a long night here. As much as I can, I prefer to do both.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Working in the lab requires a \u201cprofessional detachment\u201d in contrast to hospitality, where you can actually chat to people. Life\u2019s all about duality: \u201cI made one friend the entire time I was running my lab, and here, I make a brand new friend every night.\u201d<\/p>\n Related news<\/p>\n \n \n
\n![\"Revolver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/SWA01975-copy-640x427.jpg\")
Kenya Bartender Week will take place from 2 to 8 September<\/p>\n
\n![\"Revolver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_0773-640x561.jpg\")
\u201cWe\u2019re using alcohol to provide you with a wonderful, broad palette of flavour,\u201d says Devani<\/p>\n
\n![\"Revolver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/TG__9896a-640x482.jpg\")
In Nairobi, Devani says people want to drink less, but are looking for better quality options<\/p>\n
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