SONEVA JANI · MALDIVES
BAREFOOT FINE DRINKING - SONEVA.
Beverage Concept Development · Advanced R&D · Fine-Drinking Program · No & Low Alcohol · Sustainability · Menu Development · Training
CLIENT
Soneva
location
Maldives
PROJECT
Soneva Jani
scope
Concept Development · Bar Consultancy · Beverage Program Development · Strategic R&D · Craftsmanship Training · Conceptual Menu Design
THE CONCEPT
barefoot fine drinking.
Soneva had pioneered its own version of luxury: barefoot, sustainable and deliberately unconventional. We wanted its drinks to be just as distinctive.
At the time, fine drinking largely belonged to the world’s leading cocktail bars: precise, technique-driven and increasingly culinary. Bringing that thinking to a barefoot island resort — without importing the formality that often came with it — opened up a different idea of what fine drinking could be. We called it Barefoot Fine Drinking.
Every botanical we worked with was grown in the island’s organic gardens. Rather than designing drinks first and sourcing ingredients afterwards, we could begin with what was growing around us.
The result was a barefoot beverage program rooted in serious cocktail craft, but shaped by Soneva’s very particular relationship with nature, wellness and sustainability.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
let the native botanical lead.
Working from the garden changed the usual order of things. A drink might begin with four varieties of basil rather than a spirit; with a fruit we wanted to preserve; or with a local ingredient whose potential behind the bar had barely been explored.
The process moved between garden, kitchen and bar. Fresh botanicals were tasted and tested, then infused, extracted, pickled or preserved. Screw pine and pomelo became a house-made liqueur. Pineapple was transformed into a spiced shrub, drawing on the Maldivian use of pickling. Four garden-grown basils were layered with galangal and citrus. Jasmine found its way into a drink with green tea, celery, cucumber and fennel.
Technique was there to make the ingredient more expressive, not more complicated.
WELLNESS & SUSTAINABILITY
Wellness, preservation and Maldivian tradition.
Wellness at Soneva Jani offered another way of thinking about flavor. Maldivian traditions became part of that exploration. Shrubs, pickling, teas, aromatic botanicals and other preparations carried ideas of preservation and wellbeing alongside their culinary possibilities. Rather than separating those qualities from the drinking experience, we explored how they could inform contemporary fine drinking.
Maldivian culture provided some of the most interesting starting points. Pickling and shrubs introduced preservation, acidity and complexity. Jasmine connected tea, fragrance and a traditional association with happiness. Aromatic botanicals allowed scent to become part of the composition, bringing principles of aromatherapy into the drinking experience.
Fermentation, preservation, pure organic botanicals and traditional preparations gave the program a vocabulary that reached beyond conventional cocktail making. Their value was not only in what they contributed to flavor, but in the cultural knowledge, wellbeing and rituals behind them.
Sustainability followed naturally from the same thinking. Ingredients were considered for how they could be preserved, transformed and used with greater purpose, while natural materials and thoughtful production choices extended that approach beyond the liquid itself. The original program also specified sustainable materials including wood, ceramic and bamboo as part of the experience.
This brought wellness and sustainability into the creative process itself, alongside flavor, technique and the pleasure of a beautifully made drink.
CRAFTSMANSHIP & IMPLEMENTATION
FROM CONCEPT TO SERVICE.
Barefoot Fine Drinking demanded more than a collection of recipes. The bar team needed to understand the thinking behind the drinks — the ingredients, techniques, stories and sensory details — well enough to make the program their own.
Intensive craftsmanship training formed part of the development process, translating the program into the techniques and preparations required in daily service.
The same attention went into the physical language of the bar. House-made bitters and infusions, dried botanicals, specialist tools and distinctive glassware were brought into view, turning the bartop into a place where craft could be seen and conversations could begin.
Even the simplest moments were considered. Water infused with cucumber, basil and ginger was served in exceptionally fine glassware. A small detail, but characteristic of an approach in which nothing behind the bar was considered too ordinary to improve.
PRESS & RECOGNITION
A A remarkable vision of hospitality.
We are proud to have contributed to the guest experience at Soneva Jani, whose distinctive approach to hospitality, sustainability and wellbeing has received international recognition.
#36 - THE WORLD’S 50 BEST HOTELS
50 Best Hotels 2023
TWO MICHELIN KEYS
Michelin Guide
Five-Star 2025
Forbes Travel Guide
OUR SCOPE
a resort-wide beverage program.
Cocktail Professor developed the beverage program for Soneva Jani as a complete drinking philosophy — from the original Barefoot Fine Drinking concept and research process through beverage development, wellness and sustainability, multisensory presentation and implementation.
The work extended into the details that shape how a program is experienced in service: signature drinks, house-made preparations, ice, glassware, bar tools, serving rituals, storytelling and intensive craftsmanship training for the bar team.
Beverage Concept Development · Fine-Drinking Program · Research & Development · Flavor Development · Wellness & Sustainability · Multisensory Experience · Menu Development · Bar Programming · Craftsmanship Training · Implementation
