Feni (liquor)

Feni is a special kind of drink that is very popular in a small state in India called Goa. Now, have you ever seen or eaten a fruit called a cashew? It's really yummy and it's really good for you too! Well, in Goa, they have lots and lots of cashew trees and they use the cashew fruit to make Feni. Making Feni is a bit like cooking food, but instead of heating it up, they leave it out in the sun for a few days so that it can ferment. Fermenting means that tiny living things called bacteria eat up the sugar in the cashew fruit and make a special kind of juice that people can drink.

But wait, there's more! After the juice has fermented, people take the liquid and cook it again, but this time they heat it up very very hot. When they do this, the liquid turns into steam, just like boiling water, and the steam goes up into a special container with a long tube sticking out of it. The steam goes through the tube and cools down and turns back into liquid again, like how steam from a kettle turns back into water when it touches the cold air. This new liquid is Feni!

But here's the thing, Feni is not like other drinks that you can buy at the store. It is very very strong, so people only drink a little bit at a time. That's why grown-ups drink it together with a special kind of snack called a "solkadi" or "sanna" to balance out the taste. So remember, just like how too much candy is not good for you, too much feni is not good for you either!