Cashew Feni: Goa’s Magic Concoction

Cover photo by Caden Fernandes
Pictures by @Crishnaa.Madhavi unless specified otherwise.

Come March and every corner of Goa is teeming with the sweet aroma of ripe Cashew apples. If you ever find your way to Cansaulim, you’d know waht we’re talking about! The monte leading up to the Three Kings Church is lined with glowing fruiting plants and the village bustles with activity as they begin harvesting them.

Goans get ready to not only roast the cashew nut, but also to brew Goa’s favourite elixirs – Urrack and Feni. While Urrack has a very short shelf life, Goan cashew Feni can be stored and aged for up to 10 years! Just like wine, the more you age the Feni, the pricier it gets. Goa’s famous drink replete with fruity, pungent and earthy aromas, Cashew Feni has its own fanbase. Goan Cashew feni is an emotion stronger than wine or whiskey and it has many swooning over its unbeatable goodness in all its myriad flavors!

The making of Goan Cashew Feni

So how do they brew this magical and mysterious concoction? We picked the mind of Hansel Vaz, and his reservoir of wisdom spilled the secrets behind a good Feni, or fanny drink as it is hilariously known by tourists.. The founder of Cazulo Feni, Hansel gave us insights into why it is cherished by Goans. As we followed him through his distillery in Cansaulim, we couldn’t help but be fascinated! 

So let’s begin right at the start, when Feni didn’t exist in Goa. That was until the Portuguese colonists trudged in with their chillies, potatoes, tomatoes and… cashews! Yes! Cashew came to Goa all the way from Brazil. It is rumoured that the goal was to prevent topsoil erosion with the trees during Goa’s heavy monsoons, but Hansel Vaz denies this story. Nevertheless, who knew it’d spread its roots straight into our hearts! 

Why Feni-making is an art

To begin with, the cashew apples are collected when they ripen in March and fall off the trees by pickers known as cazkars. Next, they’re crushed by stomping on them. This is done on a basin cut of rock called the colmbi. The juice is then transferred into a mud pot which is buried in the earth for three days to ferment the juice.

The pulp that remains after squashing the fruit is used to extract Neero, a refreshing non-alcoholic summer beverage which is much harder to find! If you’re ever looking for an offbeat experience in Goa, the hunt for Neero might be a good idea!

These earthen pots are almost 1 – 1.5 metres long in diameter, thin like eggshells, and hence extremely light and easily breakable. Known as kodem or bhann these pots are no longer made and the ones used currently have all been unearthed by careful and tedious digging from older distilleries! What’s more, according to Vaz, his distillery is one of the very few that use these pots to make feni; others use plastic drums. 

How has making Goan Cashew Feni changed over the years?

What makes Goan Cashew Feni all the more attractive is the fact that the potters who made these bhanns don’t exist anymore. According to Vas, only one such potter still lives. These ancient vessels ensure that the temperature remains stable and the yeast grows uniformly.

The fermentation needs to take place without the use of any external yeast, to conserve its fruity flavour. The yeast gets trapped in the pores on the mud pot and gets used for consequent fermentation processes. 

Once this is done, the juice has to be distilled by boiling it in an earthen pot, connected to a water bath. A bamboo tube filters the vapours from the pot that are condensed in the water bath and collected in another clay pot. It’s a tedious process of triple distillation, but it’s every bit worth it. The first distillation gets you Urrack, having 15% alcohol by volume, the second gets you Cazulo (40-42% alcohol) and the final one gives you Feni (45% alcohol). Although, most distillers stick to Cazulo Feni as the latter is too strong.

This Feni can be stored in garrafões (vintage, hand-blown glass containers) that Vaz has acquired from locals for exorbitant prices. Aged Feni is a magical experience of its own.

Goa’s Feni distillers – the true culinary magicians

Goa is home to almost 30,000 small distillers and six large ones in the feni industry. Feni started as a local brew, and ended up being classified as a ‘heritage spirit of Goa’ in 2016. It was also granted a GI (geographical indication) tag in 2013. It doesn’t stop there; Feni got itself makeovers over the years finding itself being aged in barrels and infused with aromas. 

Cashew apple isn’t the only one. Feni is also made from coconut toddy. Known as nasha paani, coconut feni was the original feni that existed before the Portuguese arrived. It’s tart and light.

Feni can also be infused with flavours, usually single botanical flavouring each time. As the stories go, each of these flavours are traditional Indian ingredients that help alleviate certain ailments. For instance, they have jeera (cumin) for an upset stomach, allem (ginger) for a sore throat, kodu (bitter gourd) for diabetics, louson (garlic) for the heart and so on. The way they’re prepared is even more intriguing. The flavours are created by hanging cloth potlis or pouches over the still and letting them infuse into the vapours.

A third kind of Feni prepared is Dukshiri, made with the Indian sarsaparilla root (dukshiri). The root was used as a coolant and a painkiller, hence the name. Dukshiri is a smoky, earthy drink with a faint aftertaste of peanuts.  

There’s also a semi-mythical feni called Kõlléãcho, or fox feni. Our Goan ancestors trusted it as a sure cure for tuberculosis, bronchitis and other respiratory illnesses. The word kolleacho refers to a fox. You might not believe it, but this Feni was one of the hardest to make. The sole reason for this was the work it took to hunt down a fox or a jackal. You were lucky if you came across a roadkill; that’s when distillation began. Fret not! They always discarded the pots after a single use.

Café Conserva’ or coffee feni, is another lesser known feni. It was once a dessert liqueur, served after local Goan weddings. 

Final thoughts

Sake and Scotch might be exotic, but a drink that tastes of the history of our land in every sip is incomparable.

It’s not just fruit pulp fermented and distilled, it is a story boiled to perfection.

When we think Feni, we think of a culture that’s been a heirloom for centuries, of remedies being passed down and memories being made with your clan. For Goans, alcohol isn’t just about getting “sloshed” till you pass out or the buzz to keep you dancing all night; it’s about togetherness and remembering, more than forgetting. Next time you sip on this art, be wary of its exciting history.

Experience Goa’s Culinary Heritage on a guided walking tour in Goa with Soul Travelling! Head out on the Tavern Trail in Panjim.