SPIRITS 



Materials Used 



INDIAN DISTILLING 



Pine-apple. 



Mahua Spirit. 



Tart. 



Marua. 



Beer and 

 Whisky. 



Fachwai 



Toddy Tari. 



Rum. 



Brandy. 



or of Indo-European spirit (local brands of rum, whisky, etc.) is, as a 

 rule, carried on in highly organised private distilleries with European 

 appliances " (Imp. Gaz., I.e. 14). 



The following may be given as a fairly complete enumeration of the materials 

 used (or which may be used) in the distillation of various alcohols, chiefly con- 

 sumed as intoxicants. The pages (when cited) denote positions in this work 

 where details will be discovered : 



Agave. The Mexican mescal spirit (p. 35). 



Anacardium occidentale. The Cashew-nut. A spirit is said to be distilled 

 from this fruit in Goa (pp. 65-6). 



Ananas sativa. The Pine-apple (p. 69). 



Anthocephalus Cadamba. Spirit distilled from the flowers. 



Arenga saccharifera. The Sago-palm, employed in preparation of Batavian 

 arak (p. 92). 



Bassia latifolia. The Mahua flowers, perhaps after grain and sugar the 

 most important alcohol-yielding material in India. The spirit distilled from 

 these is called madhvi (p. 119). It is discussed by Baber (Memoirs, 1519, 325). 



Borassus flabellifer. The Palmyra or Toddy Palm (p. 170). 



Gary ota urens. The Indian Sago-palm (pp. 286-7). 



Cocos nucifera. The Cocoanut (p. 361). 



Coffea arabica. Ripe pulp of coffee-berry (p. 366). 



Coix. Beer (p. 396). 



Cymbopogon. Rusa and other perfumes (pp. 450-63). 



Eleusine coracana. The marua or rdgi (pp. 519-21). 



Eugenia Jambolana. The ripe fruits are distilled in Goa (p. 526) ; also largely 

 used for vinegar (p. 1109). 



Hordeum vulgare. Beer. See Malt Liquors (pp. 643, 757). In Spiti a liquor 

 is distilled from the grain called chang (p. 758). 



Malt Liquors (pp. 757-62). 



Melia Azadirachta. The nim. A fermented liquor is obtained from the 

 sap that is sometimes distilled (p. 780). 



Morus alba. The Mulberry fruit affords a beverage sometimes distilled in 

 Kashmir (p. 785). 



Oryza sativa. Rice. This is the chief grain used in the production of 

 pachwai, and a spirit is often also distilled from specially prepared rice cakes (pp. 

 826, 840). The spirit from rice and barley cakes, J. C. Ray tells us, is called 

 paishti. The reader desirous of particulars regarding the method of distillation 

 pursued in Bengal, should consult Ray's instructive paper (I.e. 130-42). The 

 revenue from rice and millet beer amounted, in 1902-3, to about 6 lakhs in Bengal 

 and 1 1 lakhs in Burma elsewhere it is inconsiderable. 



Phoenix. The sap of the Date-palm is largely employed in Bengal in the 

 manufacture of crude sugar, and the fermented toddy is distilled or alcohol is 

 made from the sugar (see p. 886). The sap of the date, palmyra and cocoanut 

 palms (called tdri in the north, and toddy, a corruption of tari, in the south) is 

 used as a drink fresh or after fermentation. The total excise revenue derived 

 from these sources in 1902-3 amounted to over one crore of rupees, of which 

 about 72 per cent, was collected in Madras, 12 in Bombay, 10 in Bengal and 5 

 in Burma. Thevenot (Travels in Levant, Indostan, etc., 1687, pt. iii., 17, 97) 

 makes interesting mention of " tary " wine. 



Saccharum offlcinarum. Sugar-cane. Rum is obtained chiefly by the dis- 

 tillation of the uncrystallised portion of the expressed juice (p. 956). Country 

 brands of rum and the so-called brandies and whiskies are distilled from cane- 

 juice, etc., and are coloured and flavoured as desired. Recently, however, some 

 of the European breweries have started to distil whisky (proper) from barley, and 

 this promises to be a profitable new industry. The cane-sugar liquors are pro- 

 duced at private distilleries situated in different part of the country. In the 

 United Provinces and the Panjab such liquors pay duty at the rate of Rs. 4 

 per proof gallon, in the Central Provinces at Rs. 5, and elsewhere at the Customs 

 tariff rate of Re. 6. The most important factory is the Rosa Distillery at Shah- 

 jahanpur, in the United Provinces, which, in addition to supplying these provinces, 

 exports considerable quantities to the Panjab, the Central Provinces, Bengal and 

 other parts of India (see p. 956). 



Sorghum. A spirit is distilled from the grain (p. 1041). 



Vitis vinifera. The Grape. Brandy is distilled in Kashmir (p. 1114). 



1046 



