Greetings from Australia,

I am doing some research on traditional Indian alcoholic beverages and traditional distillation techniques, and find that not much information is available on the Internet. A well researched article would be most useful - it appears that indigenous drinks do not have much status, but they are a valid ethnographic topic. See 'Fermented cereals a global perspective' for what I mean

 http://www.fao.org/docrep/x2184e/x2184e09.htm

Regards,

Wal

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, distillation of toddy made from rice, molasses and palm sap to arrack was practised in India/Sri Lanka in 800 BC. Also natural aromatic materials were known to Indians, Chinese and Egyptians 3,000 years ago. We know that these three civilizations had contacts, Buddhism came to China from India and Cleopatra wanted to evade the clutches of Rome by escaping to India. What sort of equipment was used for distillation? Clay pots were  common, and there is a clay pot still apparently 5,000 years old in the Pakistan Taxila Museum (see attachment). The 'Mysore Still' shown appears to follow the Chinese principle, while the others appear similar to those in Late Egypt. For images of 'Indian alchemical apparatus' see:

http://www.levity.com/alchemy/in_app_1.html

http://www.levity.com/alchemy/in_app_2.html

For comparison purposes see 'Images from Greek alchemical manuscripts'

http://www.levity.com/alchemy/greek-im.html

Not much information is available on the Internet on distillation in India/Sri Lanka, but I have gleaned the following for my historical/global databank:

1) 'Cleaner Production at a Toddy Distillery in Sri Lanka'

"The production of coconut arrack harnesses the natural formation of alcohol in the nectar of the coconut flower. Toddy tappers climb the coconut trees to collect the toddy, in the traditional manner, in coconut plantations aong the shores of the Indian Ocean. Toddy is lowered to the ground, placed into traditional wooden barrels and transported to the distillery. The fermentation occurs due to naturally occuring yeasts that find their way into the toddy. By the time the toddy arrives at the distillery, the fermentation is complete. At the distillery, toddy is stored to form a suitable batch and then fed to one of a range of stills, depending on the quality and quantity of product required. Following distillation, the alcohol is aged in wooden (halmilla) vats to improve its flavor. Some high quality alcohol products require a double distillation. After aging, the product is blended and filtered prior to bottling and sale."

http://www.emcentre.com/unepweb/tec_case/food_15/house/h13.htm

2) 'A Review on Natural Products in Indian Perfumery', Bhuvana Nageshwaran.

"Floral attars may be defined as the solution of the distillates obtained by hydro distillation of flowers, in sandalwood oil. The apparatus & equipment used for manufacture of attar are light, flexible, and easy to repair with a fair degree of efficiency. The equipment that is used are Bhapka or Receiver, Chonga or Bamboo Condenser, Gachchi or Cooking Water Tank, traditional Bhatti or Furnace.

The process normally employed for the production of these attars are caried out in copper stills called 'Degs' perched on earthern ovens, wood-fuelled fires burned below. The stills held about 10-160 kg of flowers/various herbs submerged in water.

Angling out from the top of the degs were bamboo pipes wrapped in twine made of local grasses. These pipes, or chongas, connected the degs to another long necked copper vessel called a Bhapka, which sat in a water-bath below the bigger vessel.

The smaller vessel held precious sandalwood oil into which the aromatic vapors produced in the deg condensed. The water of distillation that collected below the oils is sometimes recycled."

http://www.ultrainternational.com/centifoliamam.htm

3) 'Adavasi - The Tribal People of India'

"Drink was important to adivasis in a large number of ways as they accorded great honour to spirituous drinks. They believe that their deities were extremely fond of 'daru' and 'toddy' and that they could be appeased by such offering. It was common to pour a libation before starting to drink. Alcohol was considered a 'food of the gods' and drunkedness occured during the act of worship was seen as a form of intoxication by the divine spirit. In local legend liquor was believed to have been given originally to the people by gods. Such beliefs ensured that drinking was considered a respectable act in adavasi culture. Drinks were served to celebrate births, a few drops were put in the mouth of the new born baby in the belief that this would bring luck in later life. No wedding would be celebrated without plentiful supply. Man and women would drink before dancing. At funeral, the corpse was given a drink and mourners drowned their sorrows with daru and toddy. Large quantity of daru were consumed during festivals. On a more daily basis drink provided a welcome relief to the adivasis after a hardwork day in the field and helped to revive their strength. They believed that it was beneficial to health and it was taken as medicine during illnes, providing protection against malaria, cholera and plagues. Any how, drink lubricated the whole cycle of their life.

Toddy is fermented juice of a palm-tree, the most productive period is from November to March.

Daru was made chiefly from flowers of the mahna tree which flowered generally for a couple of weeks in April. During this period the adivasis worked all-out, gathering the sugar-sweet and highly scented white flowers. The flowers are spread in the sun to dry. The dried mahna was used in part as food as it may be as the main ingredient of their diet during the monsoon and winter months. It was used for the distillation of daru. Liquor was made by first soaking the flowers in a big earthern pot for about a wek. Fermentation occured and a mash was produced. This was then boiled in a pot, the neck of which was sealed around a tube of bamboo. The vapour from the  boiling mash passed through a tube into another pot which was immersed in water as to cool and thus liquify the vapour which become liquor containing 15-30% of alcohol."

http://cs.fit.edu/~dclay/art2/parsi.htm

Wal