An Urrakful Workation in Goa! 

No workation in Goa is complete without unforgettable local getaways! Trust us, we know. Every chance we get, we at NomadGao try planning fun things to do for you digital nomads! Since it's summer and we're in Goa, we believe that an excursion was way overdue! So come Sunday, we gathered our community and drove to a wonderful distillery in Torxem!

Wedged quietly somewhere along Goa's northern border, the place was surrounded with green and quiet! The owner Mr Bharnav Fernandes gladly took us around his distillery. The quiet was a welcome change from the chaos of our everyday life. The air was scented with the aroma of ripe cashew apples and the distillery exuded a sense of dedication to its heritage craft!Our Urrak purchase

The two primary, local alcoholic drinks made in Goa are Feni and Urrak. Here's how they are made-

Extracting the cashew juice

The workers begin by plucking ripe, plump and juicy cashew apples. They pile them up on a stone floor made specially for the purpose of stomping. They use their feet to squash the juice from the fruits. It has a very distinct sweet yet pungent aroma that makes you want to drink it! But beware, the fruits tend to create an itchy sensation in your throat and hence are recommended to consume salted. They taste better that way anyway!

This juice is then collected in a large vessel. The fruit pulp that remains is piled again, tied together in a pile and pressed under a stone. The juice extracted is known as Niro which is a rare find, popular amongst the non alcoholic drinks, makes for a super refreshing summer beverage, and is best consumed fresh!

Distilling the spirit!

If you're looking for the best alcoholic drinks in Goa, this is where you find out. The juice that is collected is then heated. The massive vessel is connected to a smaller pot that collects the steam which is then cooled to obtain Urrak. Urrak is a milder alcoholic beverage and has a shelf life of a fortnight! It's best consumed fresh when it's still doused in the cashew fruit aroma.

A tip from the locals - squeeze a little time and drop in a slit chilli along with soda and/or limca as mixers! It will blow your mind!

After Urrak comes Feni. It is a stronger alcoholic beverage with about 40% alcohol content. We loved watching the workers mix Urrak and more cashew juice to distill it all over again! The process requires so much patience and you cannot see it through without unconditional love for your craft! This double distilled drink is not yet Feni until it's fermented in clay pots. These pots are very delicate and are kept buried in the earth with their mouths outside. Here the alcohol ferments for a week or two and voila! You have your feni.

While Urrak tastes best fresh, Feni, like wine, gets better as it ages.

Cheers to Susegaad life!

Another thing worth experiencing is the life of these manufacturers! They await summer eagerly to embark on their distillation mission! As summer fades, their work gradually comes to a stop and they take a long well deserved break up until November when they again begin preparing for the Cashew season. The initial tasks are gathering enough wood to fire up their distillation again. It's hard work but if you look closely, it's balanced well with good rest. Just like it should be. For anyone who might have misunderstood the word susegaad, this life is a vibrant example of it.

If you like experimenting, we'd recommend hunting down the Niro and concocting wonderful non alcoholic cocktails from it! If not, Urrak never disappoints, no matter how you mix it!

At NomadGao, we are building a diverse community of digital nomads. If you are a digital nomad or yearning for a workation in Goa, we'd be happy to help! You can follow us on nomad.gao on ista or nomadgao on FB. You might also want to sign up for our newsletter for a dose of workation offers and travel updates. Check out www.nomadgao.com for more details.

(The post was originally published by Sharvani Chandavale for NomadGao Blog)