Radhika Sharda: Meet The Storyteller Turning Drinks Into Tales

With two decades of experience shaping brands and crafting narratives, Radhika Sharda, Co-founder of RAD Beverages, has turned her storytelling prowess into a spirited entrepreneurial journey. Through Twisted Tails — India’s first concept-driven brand of curated mixers and ready-to-drink blends — she is redefining how the country experiences cocktails.

Rooted in real juices, authentic spices, and zero artificial flavouring, each Twisted Tails variant carries its own personality and playful plot twist — mirroring her belief that every mood and moment deserves a flavour to match.

Having spent years building brands across lifestyle and hospitality, Radhika is now blending strategy with creativity to script a new chapter in India’s evolving beverage culture — one tale at a time.

1. What was the spark that led to the birth of Twisted Tails? Was there a defining moment or shared interest with conventional mixers and RTDs that pushed you toward creating something different?

Twisted Tails was born from a shared realisation that India’s mixer and ready-to-drink category had become one-dimensional — dominated by overly sweet, artificial-tasting options that didn’t reflect how people actually wanted to drink. As India’s first concept-driven, versatile mixer and RTD brand, Twisted Tails was created to offer a homegrown, flavour-first experience built on craft, creativity and storytelling. Every flavour is a character, every bottle a twist in the tale — celebrating all moments captured in our tagline One for Every Tale. Made with real fruit juices, real spices, low sugar and no artificial flavouring, Twisted Tails adapts to your mood and moment — mixed or enjoyed straight.

2. Twisted Tails celebrates storytelling through flavour. How do you capture an emotion, a place, or a memory and turn it into a drinkable experience? What’s the creative journey from idea to each bottle?

At Twisted Tails, every flavor is curated from the ground up and approached like a story — built layer by layer to balance taste, aroma, and experience. Each creation starts as a feeling before it becomes a flavour — translating emotions into something you can taste. Our philosophy — “One for Every Tale” — means every emotion, memory, or moment inspires a unique blend. Using the TWIST Method (Taste, What’s Trending, Ingenuity, Sensory, Tale), we create flavors that are bold, layered, and emotionally resonant. Authentic ingredients, creativity and thoughtful experimentation help us transform familiar tastes into something new. From floral teas to spice-forward and citrus-coffee blends, each variant is rooted in curiosity and craft. With these flavours we aim to elevate every sip, whether mixed, layered, or enjoyed straight — just twist, pour, and make it yours.

3. Your blends — like Orange & Coffee or Tea & Jasmine — are truly unconventional. How do you strike the right balance between surprise and approachability when developing new variants?

Each blend evolves through a mix of insight, intuition, and ingenuity — inspired by global cocktail culture but rooted in Indian sensibilities. We look at ingredients people already love and explore how they can take on a new character when paired differently: Bizarre (Orange & Coffee) channels bold rebellion through the contrast of citrus and coffee, Uncanny (Cinnamon, Clove, Apricot & Peach) evokes warmth and intrigue through layered spice and fruit, Enigmatic (Tea & Jasmine) captures calm curiosity by reinterpreting India’s comfort ritual into something refined, and Mystical (Vanilla & Caramel) celebrates indulgence with a nostalgic yet modern sweetness.

At the same time, each one is crafted to elevate the drinking experience — offering complex base flavours that invite you to mix, layer, or build upon them with no elaborate setup required. Just twist, pour, and enjoy it your way — mixed with your spirit of choice or enjoyed straight up. Together, they embody the essence of Twisted Tails — crafted, expressive, and imaginative; designed to turn the familiar into extraordinary and make every sip a story worth sharing.

4. With a focus on real fruit, real spices, and clean labels, how do you manage sourcing, consistency, and cost pressures without compromising on authenticity or flavour depth?

At Twisted Tails, quality backed by taste is a core pillar. From the outset, our focus was on crafting a product that feels authentic and elevated while meeting the expectations of today’s discerning consumer. That begins with sourcing high-quality ingredients and partners who share our commitment to craft and consistency. Every flavour is made with real fruit juices, real spices, low sugar and no artificial flavouring — aligning with the shift toward authenticity, transparency and cleaner labels. Each variant is built like a layered story, ensuring it feels bar-quality and true to character whether mixed or enjoyed straight. The result is a vibrant, flavour-first drink that reflects our belief that authenticity and imagination can — and should — coexist in every sip.

5. Twisted Tails seems designed for a new generation that values experimentation, health, and aesthetic appeal. How did insights from Gen Z and millennial consumers shape the product, packaging, and communication?

We spent a lot of time understanding how India’s new generation lives — not just how they drink. They’re experimental but intentional; they want products that fit their lifestyle rather than dictate it. They discover through design, decide through story, and stay loyal to brands that feel authentic.

Twisted Tails was imagined with that same mindset — expressive yet effortless. Flavour sits at the centre of the experience, but in a way that feels intuitive to how people connect, host and socialise today. Each variant can be mixed with a spirit of their choice, built on, layered or simply enjoyed straight — made for moments that are spontaneous, social and real.

Every bottle carries its own personality. The design isn’t an afterthought — it’s storytelling. Some days feel bold like Bizarre, others calm like Enigmatic, warm like Uncanny or quietly indulgent like Mystical. For a generation that treats every moment as an opportunity to discover, create and share, Twisted Tails brings real ingredients, bold flavour, expressive design, and no fuss.

Our tone mirrors that energy — conversational, inclusive and rooted in discovery. We don’t direct; we invite. Every message encourages people to find their own twist, because the best stories are the ones they create.

6. Where do you see the brand evolving over the next few years — more flavour stories, new formats, or global forays? And what’s your long-term vision for Twisted Tails within RAD Beverages?

The next few years are about pushing boundaries in flavour, format and experience. Our focus is on deepening our presence across India while exploring the growing global curiosity for modern Indian craft. Twisted Tails is already available nationally through Amazon, Flipkart and our website – Twisted Tails , with offline presence at 10 Nature’s Basket stores in Mumbai and 5 Le Marche stores in Delhi — a footprint that continues to grow as awareness builds. As we scale, we’ll keep experimenting with new flavour expressions and collaborations that make the Mixer & RTD experience more versatile, imaginative and culturally relevant. The long-term vision is for Twisted Tails to become a cultural catalyst in how people drink, celebrate and share stories — turning every bottle into a moment of connection and a tale worth telling.