Munnar Toddy Bars
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Fri 4 Feb 2011 18:08
|
Friday 4th February
As we were winding around corners up the
mountain to Munnar and slowly losing the will to live we noticed more
and more 'Toddy Bar's' at the roadside. The first we'd heard of these was in Sri
Lanka, where the local arak was served in shacks (Toddy Bar's) on the edge's of
towns. No sooner had we pointed the bars out to Paul and we were parked outside
a bright orange one - it was 11:30 in the morning! What we were expecting to
find was arak, the same as Sri Lanka, made from the coconut palm, similar in
appearance to whisky. The white stuff with a layer of froth on the top was
definitely not arak - uh oh! Instead it was Toddy, the sap from the palm tree.
Arak is actually illegal in India now as each year, many people are blinded
or even killed by the methyl alcohol in the
addictive drink.
 A smirnoff bottle full
of toddy was plonked in front of us and our glasses filled, this was
becoming serious now. There were only a few men in the bar when we first arrived
and the way they were watching should have given us a clue that something was
up. It was foul, the smell was revolting and it tasted even worse, it was
absolutely disgusting. Amy only managed two sips and left the rest as she
thought she might be sick. We were given peppercorns soaked in vinegar to take
the taste away but as you can expect that didn't really taste too good either.
The locals were knocking it back as if it was water and whilst we were there
probably around 10 more men arrived to consume the horrible drink, bearing in
mind that by this point it was only almost midday. They said the alcohol content
was low but still, it was a bit early! People have asked since how it compares
to the Kava from Fiji, my answer is that I would rather drink Kava all day long
than have a sip of Toddy again. It was great fun though and the owners magic
tricks helped to take our minds of the smell and taste a little. They tried to
convince Paul to drink some whisky out the back with them but we declined and
continued on our way, leaving the locals with something to talk about for the
next few hours.
 Locals laughing whilst we take
our first sips.....I think Amy's face says it all
 Toddy and
peppercorns.....oooo yes please
 Friendly locals and Siby the
owner with Paul
 Empty bottles ready to be
filled for the day ahead................Filling from a huge barrel
 Out the back with the
whisky
|