Feni (liquor)

Feni (Portuguese: fenim, often spelt as fenni or fenny) is a spiritous liquor type originating in Goa, India. The name "feni" is derived from the Sanskrit word phena, meaning "froth" or "foam", referring to the foamy, bubbling appearance observed during distillation. The two most popular types of feni are cashew feni and coconut feni. Depending on the ingredients; however, other varieties and newer blends are also sold by distilleries. The small-batch distillation of feni has a fundamental effect on its final character, which still retains some of the delicate aromatics, congeners, and flavour elements of the juice from which it is produced.

The word "feni" is derived from the Sanskrit word फेन phena, in Konkani फेण fenn (froth); thought to come from the bubbles that form when the liquor is shaken inside a bottle or poured into a glass. It is generally accepted that coconut feni was produced before it, and feni followed the same process until distillation was introduced by Europeans. Coconut palms are abundant along the western coastline of the Konkan region of India, whereas the cashew tree is an exotic species of crop, imported by the Portuguese in Goa and Bombay, from what was colonial Brazil in South America. There is ambiguity about when and who first produced a fermented beverage of cashew fruits, to make the distilled spirit of feni.

The feni consumed in South Goa is generally of higher alcohol content (43–45% ABV) as compared to the feni produced in North Goa. Commercially packaged feni is available at 42.8% ABV.

In August 2021, Goa notified the Goa Feni Policy, 2021, setting process and product specifications and establishing a Conformity Assessment Board (CAB) to verify compliance for both cashew feni and coconut feni. The policy sets specifications across the production chain, including harvesting and sourcing, extraction, fermentation, distillation, storage/maturation, bottling, labelling/selling, and related marketing and business practices.