Coconut Toddy Feni Distillation South Goa Second Distillation

While cashew feni is more famous, coconut feni produced from fresh coconut sap collected in Goa is the older and more traditional spirit, made exclusively in South Goa from fresh neera tapped by bhattkar distillers from coconut palm trees. Coconut feni begins with fresh coconut toddy collected twice daily from earthen pots tied to the tapped spathes, which ferments naturally within hours. The freshly fermented coconut toddy is then double-pot distilled in a clay vessel (bhann) embedded in the earth over a wood fire to produce first the urrak (single-distilled) and then the full-strength feni at 35 to 45 percent alcohol. Coconut feni has a distinctive fresh coconut character completely different from the smoky cashew feni. It is consumed locally as urrak during the summer monsoon onset and as double-distilled feni year-round. The GI tag for Goa feni covers both cashew and coconut variants produced within Goa by licensed bhattkar distillers. Craft spirits buyers in UK and Singapore have begun to source aged coconut feni from traditional family distillers in South Goa as a premium artisanal product. The coconut feni production season runs from the annual Goa Carnival in February through May, distinct from the April-June cashew feni season.