1.SKYY Vodka – USA No carbohydrates, said to contain the fewest impurities of the leading brands, distilled from American Midwest grain with cocoa. Considered a light vodka.
2.Smirnoff – Russia, now USA Distilled from grain with hint of mint, wet stone and charcoal
3.Blavod Black Vodka – London Distilled from grain – color and smoothness attributed to the Black Catechu, a tannin resin of the Acacia catechu heartwood, a tree indigenous to India and Burma
4.Gilbeys Vodka – USA Distilled from grain
5.Gordons Vodka – USA Distilled from grain
6.Mor Vodka – Poland Distilled from potatoes
7.Wodka Wyborowa – Poland Distilled from rye
8.Three Olives Vodka – England Distilled from English wheat
9.Oliphant Vodka – Holland Distilled from
10.3 Vodka – USA 1st and only vodka distilled from soy and contains no carbohydrates

Source: www.martinimuse.com

So you fancy yourself as a bar and nightclub enthusiast do you? Think you’re in the know with the industry? Well think again. Here are just a few things you probably didn’t know about your favourite bars and nightclubs.

Ever wondered what the name of the boss of the bouncers at a bar or nightclub is? Probably not however if you ever have the misfortune of meeting him, you may want to address him as Mr “Cooler.”

Bars and Nightclubs on corners are on average bigger then bars and nightclubs on normal lots of land.

At any given time, Ibiza has the largest percentage of population partying at a bar or nightclub.

South East Asian bars and clubs are the countries found to most likely to water down drinks, in particular spirits which for a number of reasons are disproportionately more expensive then locally brewed product (in particular beers)

The most popular shot in the world is vodka… largely propped up by the Russians where vodka is by and far the number one drink in the world.

Beer company’s invest millions of dollars in designing beer taps, due to the fact that a good beer tap can improve sales of a beer by over $20. Pretty good for a tiny bit of plastic.

Bars and Nightclubs have been voted the number 1 destination to meet people of the opposite sex.

The reason why Melbourne has a huge number of small bars and Sydney doesn’t is because of the different licensing laws that exist between each state. In Melbourne, the cost of setting up a bar is much lower and as such, is more conducive to smaller venues. In response to the popularity of small bars in Melbourne, Sydney has now begun to relax their licensing laws, allowing smaller operators to open up small bars.

The word Strobe (as in Strobe light) is in fact short for Stroboscopic.

Aniseed-flavored spirits – Some 1,500 years before Christ, these licorice-flavored spirits were valued as healing agents by the Egyptians. In the nineteenth century, absinthe, a potent aniseed aperitif distilled from wormwood, became a highly fashionable drink on both sides of the Atlantic, but intemperate enjoyment of it proved dangerous because it often led to madness or death. Consequently, early in the twentieth century, it was banned in many countries.

In the meanwhile, however, a plethora of “benign” successors developed; aniseed drinks which, in France, are known as pastis. They are based on star anise, with the essential oils being distilled and then mixed with sugar, pure alcohol, and various flavorings, such as mint, lemon balm, herbes de Provence, and licorice.

Pernod and Ricard are among the well-known brands from France (now also available as an alcohol-free drink), and anisette is a spiced liqueur. Creek ouzo and Turkish raki are also members of this big family of aniseed-flavored spirits. Ouzo is a sweet aniseed drink at 80 to 90 proof. Raki tastes dry and spicy, is not as sweet as ouzo, and is available at 80 to 100 proof.

Arrak
Similar to rum, this Asian spirit is distilled from sugarcane molasses with the addition of Indonesian red rice. Arrak is aged in oak barrels before it is bottled. The most respected variety comes from Batavia, in Indonesia, but similar drinks using a variety of ingredients, such as dates, also come from Goa in India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

Cachaca
This is a Brazilian spirit distilled directly from the juice of the sugarcane. The best-known cachaga is the straw-colored, clear Pitu. It has a soft, mild aroma and is 82 proof.

Sake
Many people would not consider a Japanese meal complete without a bottle of this clear, usually straw-colored, fermented-rice spirit. Even though sake, which is the Japanese national drink, is often referred to as wine, its production process is more like that of beer. Sake tastes similar to sherry and has an alcohol content of only 16 to 17 percent by volume, or about 35 proof.

Tequila
Mexico’s number-one spirit, drunk since the time of the Aztecs, is distilled from the blue agave cactus. Clear, white tequila, also called silver tequila, is bottled immediately after distillation. Cold tequila, or tequila anejo, gets its golden-brown color from several years storage in oak barrels, during which time the flavor also mellows and becomes smoother. Most brands of tequila are about 90 proof. Mexican laws specify that only tequila produced in a specific geographical area around the town of the same name can be labeled as such.

Rum Formerly the drink of bootleggers, pirates, smugglers, and slave traders rum was for centuries the most commonly traded contraband. The home of rum is in the Caribbean islands of Jamaica,martinique, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Here, as in the past – and among the atlantic coastal countries of Central and South America – rum and sugar are important exports. Yet, the varieties of rum produced on the different islands differ from each other as much in terms of aroma taste and bouquet as do the wines of California’s Napa Valley, or does from Tennessee sour mash.

The exact recipe for rum production is always the distiller’s secret. What all types of rum have In common, however, is their raw material – the brown, viscous molasses by-product of sugarcane refining. After distillation, rum is clear and colorless. For light rum to remain clear, it is first matured in pale ash-wood barrels for only one year and is then transferred to stainless-steel tanks for additional aging. Dark rum, on the other hand, is left to mature for years in dark, wooden casks for five to seven years, where it develops its golden or brownish color and a full-flavored body.

Caramel is also added to some brands to intensify the color. In between light and dark rum is a grade called gold, or amber, which is aged for three years. Light rum not only looks lighter than dark rum, it also has a much more delicate taste than the latter. For this reason, light rum blends intensify superbly with other ingredients such as fruit juices, liqueurs, and lemonades in cocktails, without concealing its own taste.

Its slight flavor evaporates very quickly though, so light rum is not so well suited to hot punches and grogs.

Mezcal
Mezcal is a similar drink distilled from a different variety of the agave cactus, but it does not have the same labeling regulations. Contrary to popular belief, mezcal is the Mexican drink that traditionally contained a worm in the bottom of the bottle, not tequila.

“Alcohol is the anaesthetic by which we endure the operation of life.”

- George Bernard Shaw

I couldn’t agree more with good ol’ George Bernard. And good ol’ alcohol has provided the perfect setting for lots of fun times too. As you might have gathered by now, I do enjoy a good tipple now and then. But alcohol, as most of us have realised sooner or later, has its downsides too. Apart from everything else, it can become the enemy of weight loss, with all the disappearing kilos suddenly doing an about turn and returning right back to where they were. But there’s no need to despair and morph into a miserable teetotaller. One just needs to understand what alcohol metabolism entails; what the ill effects of alcohol can be; and, how to minimise weight gain caused by drinking sessions.

First it should be stated that, from a nutrition point of view, alcoholic drinks are considered to largely consist of “empty calories” (alcohol is NOT carbohydrate). Empty calorie foods lack micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc) and fibre, but they still have a high calorific value and are easily converted into fat by the body. It’s also interesting to note that there are enough studies to show that alcohol consumption per se does not contribute much to net weight gain, as it actually increases the metabolic rate. It’s really the myriad additives and accompaniments to an average booze session that are the main culprits. Of course, if you look hard enough you can always find some “study” to support your argument, no matter which side of the fence you’re on – but don’t forget to make sure the study is credible, and has been done scientifically, with vetted reliability and validity.

You would recollect that alcohol contains 7 calories per gram (100 percent pure alcohol). Since the specific gravity of alcohol is about 0.8, this means that 100 ml of pure alcohol weighs 80 grams and contains 560 calories, not counting additives in spirits like beers, wines and whiskies. Scary!

Alcohol calories

But hold on. If everybody drank pure alcohol they would have long since departed for that great big bar in the sky, and the world would be left with only dreary teetotallers. In fact, all spirits contain way less than 100 percent pure alcohol (ethanol). There are different measures used to express this: In Europe, it is percentage ethanol by volume (% v/v) and in the US the measure is percentage proof, with 100 % proof being equal to 50% v/v (57% v/v in India and UK). Indian regulations require that both proof and v/v be printed on the bottle label.

This 57% v/v alcohol is sometimes known as ‘London Spirit’ in the trade, which is equivalent to 100% Proof (also written as 100° Proof). Anything weaker than this (most commercially available booze) would be ‘Under Proof’. So 80° Proof could also be called 20° Under Proof. Most Indian whiskies, rums, vodkas, etc, are 75° Proof, or, 42.8% v/v. Wines and beers are obviously of much lower proof (but volume consumed is much higher).

With all the above facts, it’s pretty easy to calculate the calories in a large/double peg (60 ml or 2 ounces, the usual measure in India) of your favourite intoxicant. The actual alcohol content in it would be about 26 ml, equivalent to 21 grams. Multiply that by 7 calories and you land up with 147 calories for a large peg of whisky/rum/vodka/gin. Now that’s not too bad at all, is it?

Tasty junk!

If only! But what happens in reality is quite different. That large peg is usually doused with colas, juices or other sweetened drinks, and accompanied with varying amounts of deep fried snacks and all possible forms of junk. So it seems that poor, innocent alcohol has had to take the unfair rap for weight gain, when all along it actually has been everything else that goes into an average boozing session that’s the real culprit.

You can keep on enjoying a drink or few now and then, and still lose weight if you’re sane with everything else. Replace most of the cola with water and ice, perhaps with a dash of squeezed lime. And replace fried snacks with roasted ones, along with an undressed salad of crunchy sliced cucumbers and carrots.

Fat-sparing and acetate

Nothwithstanding all the above, moderation with alcohol is key to any weight loss programme. For it is not just a matter of calories. Alcohol has other effects on metabolism that could interfere with fat storage. During and after a drinking session, as the liver metabolises alcohol prior to fats, there is a build up of fatty acids, which ultimately get stored as fat. This phenomenon is known as “fat sparing”. Alcohol also tends to slow down fat metabolism (use of stored fats as an energy source) because a significant proportion of the consumed alcohol is quickly metabolised into acetaldehyde and then acetate, which serves as a preferred energy source to fat. I’m no expert, and have found no credible sources to substantiate the “acetate for enegy” claim, but I would think that if this is the case, it would be a good idea to burn that acetate right away with some (legal) physical activity — such as walking or dancing your high away! The worst you could do is make a fool of yourself, unless of course you’re dancing on the ceiling.

Excessive consumption and binge drinking also have many other ill effects that are well known and documented, and I have no intention of repeating them here.

Bottom line: Be moderate, be reasonable, be sensible. And continue to enjoy those drinks as much as I do too!

- Val Souza

[This article was first published in Val Souza's 100 for 100 blog (www.hundredforhundred.com), which deals with inexpensive weight reduction without suffering or grief.]

There are a few misconceptions about alcoholism fact. Many people have been suffering from years of alcoholism because they do not know the statistics. A look at alcoholism fact is good for anyone who wishes to know more about the disease.

People have widely varying ideas of how prevalent alcoholism is. Some think “everyone is an alcoholic; why should I be any different?” Others think the problem is rare and that the people who fall victim are just the bottom of the barrel. They do not know the alcoholism fact about this.

Actually, the percentage of people 12 and over who were alcohol-dependent in 2004 was 7.6%. That is around 18.2 million people. This is neither rare nor extremely common. The true alcoholism fact is that these people are a minority, but they are not simply the dregs of society.

There is often the image of the homeless old alcoholic man curled up with his bottle in the gutter. Or, people think of an alcohol-dependent executive drinking copiously in an office. People think this is an alcoholism fact. Actually, after the age of 25 years old, the incidence of alcoholism goes down.

For people ages 12-17, the percentage was 5.9%. The harsh alcoholism fact is that the rate of alcoholics between 18 and 25 years of age was 17.4%. From there, the percentages went down, with 11.1% at 26-34 years old, 7.5% at 35-49 years old, and only 3% over 50.

The marital status of alcoholics is not surprising, though. Alcoholism statistics were studied for alcoholics aged 18 and older. The alcoholism fact is that those who were single and never married had the highest rate, with 16%.

People who were divorced or separated were usually under stress. They were also often trying to look for mates in social settings that involved alcohol. The rate for them was 10%. Married people had a lower rate, with only 4.6% being alcoholics. The good alcoholism fact was that only 1.3% of widowed people were alcoholics.

Another alcoholism fact is that there seems to be a relationship between emergency room visits and alcoholism. For people 12 and older, 34.2% were seen in emergency rooms, while for those who were not alcohol-dependent, the rate was only 27.9%. This would indicate that those who suffer from alcoholism do have serious physical problems.

In the year of 2004, 61% of adults drank alcohol. In that same year, there were 32% of the drinkers who had at least 5 drinks on one day during the year. An alcoholism fact is that there were 20,687 alcohol-induced deaths in 2003. Besides those, there were 12,360 alcohol liver disease deaths the same year.

The incidence of other diseases and conditions that have become associated with alcoholism is staggering. Conditions like high blood pressure, pancreatitis, insomnia, and even osteoporosis have been linked to alcohol dependence. This is an alcoholism fact that cannot be ignored.

Alcoholism fact has been established by study of statistics and by research. There is little one can do about it except to seek treatment and encourage other alcoholics to do the same. Alcoholism fact supports the notion that this is a large problem. Research suggests that it is not insurmountable.

Distillation is the centuries-old process used to produce alcohol. Heat is used to separate the components of a liquid, or mash, and as vaporization takes place the vapors are cooled so they condense into neutral spirits with little color, aroma, or flavor.

The distiller then blends this neutral spirit with other alcohol or flavorings and may or may not leave it to mature, or age, until the desired flavor and aroma is achieved before bottling. Brandy and clear, colorless grappa are two examples of spirits distilled from wine, which you will find in most standard bar stocks. The following are the best-known distillations from wine produced in countries around the world.

Armagnac
Armagnac is a pale golden, fiery, dry-tasting French brandy. Under French law, only white grapes from the Haut-Armagnac, Tenareze, and Bas-Armagnac regions of Gascony, in southwest France, may be distilled for Armagnac. The distillation takes place after the grape harvest, which occurs between October and April. Unlike cognac, its younger cousin, Armagnac has traditionally been made with only one distillation, but a recent change in legislation means double distillation is now allowed, speeding up the maturation process, which takes place in oak barrels.

Three stars on the label mean it has had at least two years’ maturation; V.S.O.R, at least five years; Napoleon and X.O., at least six years; and Hors d’Age at least 10 years in the barrel. A vintage year on the label indicates the year of the harvest. A vintage Armagnac is never blended.

Brandy
First discovered in the middle of the thirteenth century in France as an attempt to produce a medicinal drink, brandy is now made around the world wherever grapes are grown. After two distillations, the clear, colorless alcohol is given its distinctive nutty brown color and flavor by aging in wood, often oak, barrels. The longer a brandy ages, the more refined its flavor is judged to be. In the United States.

Cognac
Prehaps the best-known brandy in the world, cognac comes from a uprcific area in western France centered around the town of Cognac Hi ihe Charente region. To be labeled as “cognac,” French legislation n|ircifies the brandy can only be made from specific white grapes winch are grown and later distilled within a strictly defined fid’graphical area.

Cognac production is governed by old traditions as well as the laws, so all the brandy is distilled at least twice and then matured in oak barrels for at least two years, during which time it develops its rich, brown color. The end result is 80 proof. Information mi ihe label, also governed by law, explains the maturity of the cognac.

Three stars or VS. means the cognac has been matured in the barrel for at least two years; V.S.O.R, Vieux, V.O, and Reserve Indicate at least four years; V.V.S.O.P and Grande Reserve are (cognacs matured for at least five years; Extra, Napoleon, X.O., Tres eux, and Vieille Reserve are stored for six to 10 years in oak barrels.

Crappa
This clear, Italian spirit, about 80 proof, is distilled from the remains Of the grapes used in wine production, the stems, skins, and pits. Crappa made from white wine is dry and fiery, while that from red wine has a powerful flavor. Although grappa is best known as an Italian spirit, versions of it are made in other countries, such as marc in France.

Marc
This French pomace spirit is distilled from the press residue resulting Irom wine production. Depending on the variety, it either tastes powerful and full flavored (marc de bourgogne) or light, dry, and very soft (marc de champagne). The alcohol content is between 80 and 90 proof. There is a flavor difference between marc made from red-wine and white-wine residues. A small glass of marc, served neat, is aperfect digestive.

Metaxa
The best-known Creek spirit, metaxa is distilled from black grapes. The alcohol content is about 80 proof. Stars on the label tell you how long the liquor was aged. Three stars means three years; five stars, five years; and seven stars, seven years. Bottles labeled as Private Reserve have been matured for at least 20 years, and have the smoothest flavor.

Pisco
This very tangy, colorless brandy is the national drink of Chile, and is the main ingredient in the refreshing cocktail Pisco Sour. Produced from black grapes with a high proportion of muscatel grapes, it is matured in clay casks.

Weinbrand
This German grape brandy, whose name translates as “burned wine,” is distilled using some wines from neighboring countries, but legislation requires up to 85 percent of the final product to be German. It must then be matured for six months in oak casks holding a maximum of 1,000 liters (about 2,600 gallons) each. Old weinbrand must be cellared for a minimum of 12 months.

If it is then at least 76 proof, it will receive an official reference number and can be sold. Like cognac, weinbrand is double distilled. Weinbrand should be served no warmer than room temperature, and is best served in a brandy snifter. If it is a little on the cool side, however, it does not matter because it will quickly attain the correct temperature through heat transferred from the hands.

All Tequila is Mezcal, but not all Mezcal is Tequila. —Tequila marketing mantra

Tequila, and its country cousin Mezcal, are made by distilling the fermented juice of agave plants in Mexico. The agave is a spiky-leafed member of the lily family (it is not a cactus) and is related to the century plant. By Mexican law the agave spirit called Tequila can be made only from one particular type of agave, the blue agave (Agave Tequiliana Weber), and can be produced only in specifically designated geographic areas, primarily the state of Jalisco in west-central Mexico.

Mezcal is made from the fermented juice of other species of agave. It is produced throughout most of Mexico. Both Tequila and Mezcal are prepared for distillation in similar ways. The agave, also know as maguey (pronounced muh-GAY), is cultivated on plantations for eight to 10 years, depending on the type of agave. When the plant reaches sexual maturity it starts to grow a flower stalk. The agave farmer, or campesino, cuts off the stalk just as it is starting to grow. This redirects the plant growth into the central stalk, swelling it into a large bulbous shape that contains a sweet juicy pulp. When the swelling is completed, the campesino cuts the plant from its roots and removes the long sword-shaped leaves, using a razor-sharp pike-like tool called a coa. The remaining piña (“pineapple”—so-called because the cross-thatched denuded bulb resembles a giant green and white pineapple) weighs anywhere from 25 to 100 pounds.

At the distillery the piñas are cut into quarters. For Tequila they are then slowly baked in steam ovens or autoclaves (oversized pressure cookers) until all of the starch has been converted to sugars. For Mezcal they are baked in underground ovens heated with wood charcoal (which gives Mezcal its distinctive smoky taste). They are then crushed (traditionally with a stone wheel drawn around a circular trough by a mule) and shredded to extract the sweet juice, called aguamiel (honey water).

The fermentation stage determines whether the final product will be 100 percent agave or mixed (“mixto”). The highest-quality Tequila is made from fermenting and then distilling only agave juice mixed with some water. Mixto is made by fermenting and then distilling a mix of agave juice and other sugars, usually cane sugar with water. Mixtos made and bottled in Mexico can contain up to 40% alcohol derived from other sugars. Mixtos that have been shipped in bulk to other countries for bottling (primarily the United States) may have the agave content further reduced to 51% by the foreign bottler. By Mexican law all 100% agave or aged Tequila must be bottled in Mexico. If a Tequila is 100 percent agave it will always say so on the bottle label. If it doesn’t say 100% it is a mixto, although that term is seldom used on bottle labels.

Source: Tastings.com

Neutral grain spirit (also called pure grain alcohol [PGA], or grain neutral spirit [GNS]) is a clear, colorless, flammable liquid that is distilled from cereal grain and has a very high ethanol content. The term neutral refers to the fact that it lacks any flavor derived from the mash used to distill it, nor does it have any flavor added to it after distillation (as is done, for example, with gin). The grain from which it is produced can be any of the common cereal grains. Other kinds of spirits, such as whisky, are distilled at lower alcohol percentages in order to preserve the flavor of the mash.

The purity of neutral grain spirit is practically limited to 190 proof because a mixture of ethanol and water becomes an azeotrope at 95.6% ABV (191.2 proof).

Neutral grain spirit is only one type of neutral spirit (also called neutral alcohol). Neutral alcohol can also be produced from grapes, sugar beets, sugarcane, or other fermented plant material. In particular, large quantities of neutral alcohol are distilled from wine, a product that is referred to as vinous alcohol. Generally, any distilled spirit of 170 proof or higher that does not contain any added flavoring is considered to be neutral alcohol.

Neutral grain spirit is used in the production of blended whiskey, cut brandy, some liqueurs, and some bitters. As a consumer good, it is almost always mixed with other beverages to create such drinks as punch and various cocktails, or to produce homemade liqueurs.

Availability in market areas

Because of its high alcohol content, neutral grain spirit is illegal, unavailable, or difficult to find in many areas.

United States
Everclear, Golden Grain Alcohol, and Gem Clear are three brands of neutral grain spirit sold in the United States.

It is illegal to sell the 190-proof variety of neutral grain spirit (i.e., Everclear, Golden Grain Alcohol, or Gem Clear) in some states of the United States — California, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Washington. In some of these states, the 151-proof variety of Everclear may be sold. In the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia, grain alcohol lacking distinctive color, odor, and flavor, while not illegal, is not sold at any liquor stores owned by the State (compare, for example, that beverages such as Southern Comfort, a flavored liqueur that has grain alcohol as its base, are sold). Because the State of Virginia has a self-legislated monopoly on the sale of hard liquor, independent liquor stores are illegal, and the product is thus mostly unavailable. In some cases, however, liquor stores on U.S. military bases in the State do sell grain alcohol, and small quantities may be imported on one’s person from nearby states.[4]

Europe
In Europe, neutral alcohol is sold in some countries. Since it is usually distilled from grain, it is in fact neutral grain spirit. This product contains 95%–95.6% ABV (190–191.2 proof) and is much used for making homemade liqueurs. In Germany, neutral alcohol is called Neutralalkohol or (colloquially) Primasprit. Primasprit is sold in stores and is most often used for making homemade liqueurs; other types of use are rare.

Rectified spirit“Rectified spirit” or “rectified alcohol” is neutral alcohol which has been purified by means of “rectification” (i.e., repeated distillation). It will contain at least 95% ABV. It is normally used for medicinal purposes but can also be used to make homemade liqueurs. It can be a grain spirit or can be made from other plants.

Cultural references

In the 1964 film Dr. Strangelove (directed by Stanley Kubrick), base commander General Jack D. Ripper states that he only drinks pure grain alcohol with distilled water or rainwater.

Source: Wikipedia

Strengthwise, high grade feni is like a dynamite. There are known to exist about 4,000 such mini traditional distilleries or stills in Goa, manufacturing cashew feni and about 2,200 stills manufacturing coconut feni. About 75 per cent of stills making cashew feni are in north Goa and the rest are in south Goa. As far as the stills making coconut feni are concerned, south Goa has about 65 per cent of them and the rest are in north Goa. This is an indication that north Goa abounds in cashew trees while south Goa has more coconut trees.

It is understood that there are over 7,000 shops, bars and taverns in Goa selling feni and other liquors, either wholesale or retail. About 55 per cent of them are in north Goa and 45 per cent in south Goa.

Feni sold in bulk is measured in a pot called Kouso. One Kouso is equal to 20 bottles or 15 litres. It is stored in glass carboys called Garrafao. A small Garrafao holds about 6 bottles of feni, while a big one can store about 12 to 14 bottles. Some people store feni in clay porcelain jars called Bhonni. Feni stored in a Garrafao or Bhonni remains intact for years. A PVC can is definitely not a substitute for the unique Garrafao.

Feni is written differently as fenny, fenim or fenni. However it should be pronounced as Fenim. The word feni is derived from the word fenn which means froth. In fact, a good feni when poured in a glass produces a little froth, which is an indication of the superior quality of the product.

What makes feni a great drink is not only it’s good taste but also it’s smell. It has a strong smell which cannot be hidden once the bottle is opened and the drink is poured in the glass. The glass from which the feni is consumed takes a long time to lose the smell, if it is kept unwashed.

Just like a ripe guava or a ripe jackfruit, feni makes it’s presence felt by its sheer smell. The smell of feni may not be pleasant to non-drinkers, but feni consumers simply love it. They jump at the smell of feni and give it out after tasting it.
Some people don’t like it, when it is said that the feni smells. One of my neighbours strongly objects to the word smell. It is a flavour not smell, he says, feni without aroma is no feni at all. Can you imagine eating a warm mutton xacuti without the flavour of spice?
It has to be accepted that the aroma or smell of feni is an integral part of the drink. This has also been the expert opinion of some German liquor connoisseurs who tested some samples of Goan feni. The samples were taken to them by a local businessman from Panjim, who had planned to get rid of the smell of feni. The German connoisseurs were reported to have advised him not to interfere with the smell.

If you kill the smell, you will kill the drink they cautioned him. So much for the taste and smell of feni, desculpando, flavour of Feni.

What about the safety and quality of feni? Is the stuff which is sold in the market, today, good and safe? You guessed right. One has to be very careful, nowadays, while buying feni for home use or while consuming it in bars.

Spurious feni is reported to be sold and served in many places. What is alarming is that some unscrupulous sellers are known to sell spurious feni containing Navsagar and even ammonium chloride and zinc chloride from the batteries, in order to boost it’s strength. Spurious feni is injurious to human health. A good drinker can easily tell the difference between a genuine feni and an adulterated one by it’s taste and flavour.

Source: www.goablog.org

In the traditional method of making cashew feni, the cashew apples are manually crushed in a coimbi, a rock on the hill which is carved or shaped like a basin with an outlet for the juice. The juice is collected in a huge earthen pot called Kodem, which is buried in the ground. The juice is then distilled in earthen or copper pots.

When the cashew apples are crushed, the pulp is arranged in the shape of a cake in the coimbi and tied with a string. A huge boulder is then placed on top of it. The final quota of juice which trickles out in a clean form is called Neero. Many people like to drink Neero since it helps bowel movement and provides relief from constipation.

The traditional method of distilling cashew feni on the hill is very interesting to watch. The cashew juice is put in a big pot called Bhann. The Bhann serves as a closed boiler. It is connected to a smaller pot called Launni by means of a conduit. The Launni serves as a receiver or collector.

The juice in the big pot is then boiled by burning firewood under it. As the process of vaporisation and distillation goes on and the concentrated liquid collects in the smaller pot, the pressure in the receiver is kept in check by pouring cold water on it, frequently with a wooden laddle. The first stage of processing may be done on big fire but the later stage of distillation has to be done on slow fire to keep the pressure and heat under control. The process of distilling feni with such apparatus takes about 8 hours and is locally called Bhatti.

One can tell from a distance that feni is being distilled since the surrounding area is filled with its aroma. And this aroma attracts many feni consumers, who halts in their tracks when their nostrils receive the smell.

The liquor produced from cashew is of three grades Urrac, Cazulo and feni. The Urrac is the product of first distillation. It is light and can be consumed neat. It’s strength ranges between 14 and 16 grao. However, when consumed in excess, Urrac intoxicates the mind like any other hot drink. The Urrac is said to go well with orange or lemon.

The Cazulo is the product of second distillation. It is moderately strong. The Cazulo can be consumed either neat or in a diluted form depending upon the lining and resistance of one’s alimentary tract. However it is not seen in the market today.

The product, which we get after the process of third distillation is called feni. It’s strength ranges between 20 and 24 grao. It has a long shelf life.Now that the Cazulo is not made, feni is produced after second distillation itself. The second or third hand feni is a product par excellence.

to be continued…

Source: www.goablog.org