Feni Goa. Famous Traditional Drink Of Goa

Feni Goa. Famous Traditional Drink Of Goa

Goa’s very famous traditional drink is Feni and Urrak. The Goan Feni and Urrak are famous around all the locals and tourists around the world. The Urrak is first version of teh Feni, The Urrak is distillated further to make the Feni. Mainly Feni is made up of Cashew and Coconut. The cashew Feni is more popular among all other Fenis. The Feni is alcoholic beverage and it is locally prepared by the cashew apple juice in a traditional way in Goa. Now a days the more advanced equipment have come in the process which has increased the production of the Feni and it also reduced the time , manpower and costing.

This How the Feni is Produced

CASHEW FENI : In a traditional way of Feni making only the cashew apples fallen from tree are collected and taken to crush for a juice. The cashew seeds are removed from the apples and apples are collected into the Colmi which is basic or tub made up of stone. The cashew apples are crushed into this Colmi for a juice and then juice it collected on another pot. The pulp is filtered traditionally and juice is extracted which is called Neero.

Neero is kept into plastic drums for several days for fermentation. Earlier the neero was collected into earthen pot called Kodem. When the juice ferments it is kept for three day to set. The fermentation process is totally organic process there in no yeast or nutrients are added to ferment the juice. The fermented cashew juice is then transferred into separate pots for distillation. The traditional Feni distillation is called bhatti earlier the juice was boiled into earthen pots but these are replaced with copper or still pots but the process is still same. The destination pots are called Bhann and the distilled juice is collected into a earthen pot called a Launni. The launni is continuously kept cold by cold water and steam is turned into liquid.

The Feni comes after 3 distillation of the urrak. The first distilled spirit from fermented neero is called which has 15% alcohol. The Urrak is redistilled with neero again and which extracts the spirit called ‘cazulo’ or ‘cajulo’ which contains 40-42% alcohol. The Cazulo is again distilled with urrak to give a high strength and distilled spirit called Feni which contain more then 45% of alcohol.

COCONUT FENI : Also called as Maddel or Maddachim feni. This feni is mostly produced and consumed in South Goa. It is made up of the fermented toddy of a coconut palm same like the cashew feni is distilled. Toddy is collected in the morning and evening from the coconuts from tree. Cut into pieces horizontally off the top to reactive the flow of sop. Toddy is left for fermentation for three days in clay porcelain pots or plastic drums.
Coconut feni is distilled same as Cashew Feni in a earthen pots used as boiling pots. Now a days copper pots are used and both called as bhann. Once the fermentated Toddy (coconut pulp juice) is collected into a boiling pot the mouth of the bhann is sealed so that vapor doesn’t leak. The vapor from the bann is caried out with the help of copper tube called as nollo. This copper coil is immersed in the cold water to condense the vapor and collected in clay distillation pots called as Launni.
The fist distilled spirit is called as mollop and it has more than 15% alcohol. The mollop is double distilled with fermented toddy and double distilled spirit is called as coconut feni which contains more than 42% alcohol.

Coconut feni is produced through out the year where in cashew feni production is seasonal. The Feni market is mostly unorganized. The local prefer to buy it from the traditional distillers who runs the mini seasonal distilleries and stalls in villages of Goa.
Coconut feni making is the labor intensive work so we can there is reduction in production of coconut feni.

Cashew feni is seasonal generally produced after February till May depending upon the fruiting season and hence the price is speculated in season and off season.

Now a days there are many Feni brands are in the market which are catering the Goas huge tourist market. The locals are also going towards the branding and making it as organized sector.

How to drink Feni?

There are different ways to drink feni and it is up to the person how he/she likes to drink. The Feni can be served neat or with the ice. It can be mixed in cocktails or Juices. The most popularly it is served with the sugar or sugar syrup and slice of lime.

It is mostly mixed with popular cold drinks such as sprite, Limca, Maaza, 7Up and also with cola, tonic water and Lemonade.

Feni is also used in many cooking recipes for marination along with Indian spices. It is used in making curries. It is also used in Goa’s iconic Vindaloo Curry.

In 2016 Goa state government launched a new law and declared Feni as a Goa heritage drink.

Famous Feni Brnads in Goa and Prices

Now a days the Goa feni is tending towards the standardization and gaining the name in Goas Liquor market, many brands have come in the market to cater the Goa’s huge tourist market. We can check on this brands which are the some brands you take back from your Goa Trip.

GOENCHI

Goenchi means Goa’s. This is one of the known feni brands in Goa. Goenchi Feni is available in both Cashew and coconut made. This feni is available in Goa pricing from Rs. 1500 for the bottle.

CAZULO Feni

Cazulo Feni is serving in both cashew and coconut feni and it under one of the premium feni brands. You can visit the cazulos cashew plantation field and have guided tour and know about the Feni history and feni tasting experience at field. Cazulo is available in Goa from Rs 750 per bottle.

TINTO Heritage Feni

TINTO heritage feni is produced by the Adinco Distilleries along with their famous white coconut rum, Cabo de Goa and Tickle Gin. They have guided tour to their cashew farm and distillery in Cotombi, Goa. This Feni is matured for the 2-3 years before packaging into brands. It is available in Maharashtra and Goa with pricing Rs. 155 for 60 ml bottle and from Rs 600for 500 ml bottle.

AANI EK Feni

This brad offer more variation or fusion in Feni like Honey +cinnamon,Limon, Chilli this makes the drinks smoother and it is a choice of those who do not like the traditional hard taste of feni. Chilli infusion could be taken with sweet juices like mango, apple while Limon, Honey +Cinnamon can be served neat. This is available in Goa with price range from Rs. 750 per bottle.

MOJI Handcrafted Feni

MOJI gives cleaner smoother cashew Feni experience. This is made up of the traditional process at their distilleries. This is available in Goa with price range from Rs. 999 per bottle.