THE M A N U F A C T U R E A N D CHARACTERISTICS OF CEYLON ARRACK—I By W . R. N . N A T H A N A E L , Chemist, Coconut Research Institute. INTRODUCTION WI D E L Y scattered t h r o u g h scientific and technical l i te ra ture are many facts and figures con ­ cern ing a lcohol , wh ich are of interest in o n e way o r ano the r , n o t only t o t he professional chemis t a n d the scientific inves t igator , b u t also t o t he manufac turer , engineer and the user of au tomobi les . T h e indus t r ia l ut i l izat ion of r -jurposes o t h e r than as a beverage , is a d e v e l o p m e n t of compara t ive ly recent t imes , ' oc ia t ion wi th convivial i ty , and its use as an inebr ia t ing l iquor , dates back t o a very ret pe r iod in his tory . I t is c la imed for ins tance , 1 tha t arrack dis­ tilled from t o d d y has been k n o w n in India , since a t least 800 B.C. , and in Ceylon f rom " t ime i m m e m o r i a l . " T h e c u s t o m of spiri t d r ink ing in t he Eas t is widespread , and c a n n o t b e regarded as an adapta­ t ion of a E u r o p e a n habi t . M u l t i t u d i n o u s substances have been employed in var ious countr ies o f t he Or i en t for the p repara t ion of a lcohol ic l iquors , and in fact, the means of p r o c u r i n g fermenta­ t i on in a saccharine o r mal ted l iquor have been for l o n g , m u c h m o r e extensively unde r s tood in the Eas t , than in E u r o p e general ly. ARRACK MANUFACTURE A c c o r d i n g t o s o m e author i t ies the n a m e arrack is de r ived f rom the A r a b i c w o r d " araq" mean ing " sweat , juice o r pe r sp i r a t i on . " A c c o r d i n g to o t h e r s 2 i t is de r ived f rom the Artcanut ( the so-called be te l -nu t pa lm of tropical Asia) , f rom w h i c h a var ie ty of ar rack is k n o w n t o h a v e been p repared for a l o n g t ime. T h e t e rm arrack, as des igna t ing a distilled l iquor , howeve r , is n o w employed in a gener ic sense t o a var ie ty of spi r i tuous l iquors , distilled f rom a divers i ty of r aw materials such as g r o u n d rice, molasses, m a h u a flowers (Bassia latifolia o r the h o n e y tree) a n d var ious pa lm juices. Ceylon arrack is an alcohol ic beve rage manufac tured by dist i l l ing fermented toddy , tapped exclusively f rom the tall var ie ty of the coconu t palm—Cocos nucifera, L inn . 77 Historical T h o u g h au then t ic references to c o c o n u t p roduc t s l ike t o d d y and arrack appear in Ceylon 's his tor ical records on ly a b o u t the 5th Cen tu ry A . D . , yet it is bel ieved tha t the t app ing for t o d d y and t he dist i l lat ion of ar rack had been pract ised in the Is land for l ong ages. U n d o u b t e d l y , small p lan ta t ions of c o c o n u t d id exist in Ceylon d u r i n g the t imes of t he Sinha­ lese K i n g s , b u t i t is k n o w n tha t a dis t inct fillip was g iven to the extens ion of cul t iva t ion of the pa lm, a n d the d e v e l o p m e n t of t he arrack indus t ry , on ly after the adven t of the D u t c h in 1658. A c c o r d i n g t o Ber to lacc i , 3 w h e n the Bri t ish took ove r p o w e r in 1802, the ent i re coastal plain b e t w e e n Chi law a n d Mata ra was an un in te r rup ted c o c o n u t p lan ta t ion , indicat ive of the p rogress m a d e u n d e r t he D u t c h . Actual ly , t h e arrack indus t ry of the I s land t o o , had expanded t o con­ s iderable d imens ions a t t he b e g i n n i n g of t he 19th cen tury . W h o l e areas were set apar t for n o o t h e r p u r p o s e t h a n tha t of p r o c u r i n g t oddy , a n d the dist i l lat ion of ar rack t o o k place at every vi l lage r o u n d t he coast . F igures q u o t e d by the same a u t h o r s h o w tha t a remunera t ive overseas arrack t r ade h a d been establ ished a b o u t this t ime, the grea t marke t s be ing Penang , S ingapore , Madra s , B o m b a y , Ma laba r and the C o r o m a n d e l Coasts . T h e ave rage expor t s of arrack f rom 1806-1813 are q u o t e d as 790,397 ga l lons , the peak years be ing 1810-1812, w i t h an average of 939,112 ga l lons . These figures are exclusive of " c o a s t - ways " e x p o r t s of 37,500-93,000 ga l lons per year, for c o n s u m p t i o n in o t h e r par ts of Ceylon. Af te r t he year 1813 t h e e x p o r t t r ade i n ar rack suffered a s teady decl ine. T h i s set-back was par t ly d u e to res t r ic t ions , tariff hostili t ies and excise dut ies levied by t he i m p o r t i n g count r ies , and par t ly d u e t o Ba tav ian and C o r o m a n d e l a r rack c o m p e t i n g wi th the Ceylon p r o d u c t in the same marke t s . Steadily d imin i sh ing quant i t ies con t inued to be expor ted t h r o u g h o u t t he last century , and the year 1910 really saw the ext inc t ion of Ceylon 's a r rack t rade w i t h count r ies ab road . T h e Excise O r d i n a n c e of Ceylon was p r o m u l g a t e d in 1834, wh ich laid emphas i s on r evenue cons idera t ions , whi ls t t emperance objects receded to the b a c k g r o u n d . Gradua l ly a u n i f o r m excise sys tem was m a d e for the who le coun t ry , and laws were t i gh tened so as to p reven t t he m a n u ­ facture o f a r rack except o n pe rmi t s . D o u b t l e s s , this l icensing system became a source of r evenue to G o v e r n m e n t and ul t imately gave place to a G o v e r n m e n t m o n o p o l y in the sale of arrack. T h e Excise D e p a r t m e n t of Ceylon was establ ished in 1912, a n d a new policy was evolved by G o v e r n m e n t in 1924 for con t ro l l ing the m e t h o d s of manufac ture a n d i m p r o v i n g the qual i ty of ar rack. P r i o r to 1924, a r rack dist i l lat ion was carr ied o n in a b o u t 250 dirt i ly kep t c o u n t r y - m a d e c o p p e r p o t stills o f a p r imi t ive type . These p r o d u c t i o n uni ts were no t b ig and were p u t u p b y small capitalists . T h e y had an annua l capaci ty of a b o u t 1,200,000 proof ga l lons (57 -i% a lcohol v / v ) of a r rack and were s i tua ted near the coast be tween M a d a m p e and D o n d r a . B r o w n i n g and S y m o n s 4 have c o m m e n t e d o n the infer ior i ty of the spir i t m a d e in the o ld way, us ing these p o t stills. T h e G o v e r n m e n t policy of taxat ion gradual ly squeezed o u t of existence the small m a n u ­ facturer of arrack, and after 1924 these small factories were superseded by e ight large m o d e r n distil leries, w i t h up- to -da te machinery , s i tuated in t he Ka lu ta ra -District . T h r e e of these disti l­ leries h a d Barbe t Pa t en t Stills for c o n t i n u o u s disti l lat ion, each capable of p r o d u c i n g 1,000 gal lons o f a r rack pe r day. T h o u g h mos t ly all these distilleries were p r iva te ly -owned , yet opera t ions in 78 them had to be conducted under Excise supervision and the arrack supplied o n contract to Govern­ ment. Excise officers were then responsible for storing, maturing, blending and bottling. Today, in addition to eight private distilleries, there is a State Distillery (erected in August, 1949, at Seeduwa in the Western Province) and also a Co-operative Distillery opened in 1951, in the Kalutara revenue district. The Excise statistics for 19524 show that 242,820 coconut trees had been licensed for arrack manufacture, and the total vo lume of arrack produced in 1952 by the ten distilleries is given as 1,152,113 proof gallons ( r 1,920,188 gallons of arrack at the present issue strength of 40 u.p.). Note.—40 3 u.p.3=4 -3% alcohol (v /v ) . N a t u r e o f R a w Material As the writer, in some of his previous articles in this journal 6 has described exhaustively sub­ jects like the composit ion of toddy, its tapping process and yield, it is not considered essential to discuss these aspects of the raw material once again. It might, however, be emphasized, that the quality and composit ion of the toddy used for distillation are really of greater importance than the exact details of manufacture, in determining the characteristics of the finished product. A T a p p e r w i t h h i s g e a r 7 9 I In this context, certain figures g iven by Browning and Symons (loc. cit) are of interest, because they g ive an indication of the range of composit ion of coconut toddy as normally procured. They appear to have examined a considerable number of samples in various parts of the Island, as sold over the counter of toddy taverns, and also in the topes (gardens), where the tapping takes place. The fo l lowing analytical results representing 50 samples have been quoted :— Range Average Specific Gravity ... ... 0-998—1-033 ••• 1-012 % Acidity (as acetic) . . . ... 0-32 —0-67 ... 0-51 % Alcohol (by weight) ... ... 2-7 —5-8 ... 4-2 T h o u g h the variations in composit ion evident in the above figures are primarily due to the fact that we are dealing with a vegetable juice in various stages of fermentation, yet the different climatic and soil conditions in the Island could also doubtlessly affect the product to a certain extent. The difficulties experienced in the past in standardizing the quality of Ceylon arrack, could in a large measure be explained, when we consider the fact that the composit ion of the raw material itself could fluctuate within a fairly wide range, in the absence of a certain amount of control. A Tapper climbing a palm 8 0 M E T H O D O F C O L L E C T I N G TODDY F O R A R R A C K M A N U F A C T U R E T o d d y b e i n g b u l k e d at a c o l l e c t i n g s t a t i o n B u l k e d t o d d y b e i n g d e l i v e r e d at d i s t i l l e r y 81 Collection of Raw Material W h e n the u n o p e n e d inflorescence (or spathe) of the pa lm is near ly ready to p r o d u c e t o d d y , t he t apper cuts off a small p o r t i o n f rom the free end of it and places an ea r thenware p o t (of a b o u t 4 l i tres capacity) o n the end , wh ich remains suppo r t ed by its o w n weight . T h e col lect ing p o t is usually left o n the t ree for 24 h o u r s , at w h i c h s tage the t apper c l imbs t he p a l m , r emoves the col­ lect ing vessel, a n d p o u r s the con ten ts i n to a spare p o t wh ich he himself carries f rom tree t o t ree . H e t h e n lets this d o w n by r o p e to the g r o u n d , w h e r e his assistant bu lks t he t oddy in to larger re­ ceptacles. T h e t apper then pares a th in slice off the end of the spa the , taps it w i t h his mallet and replaces the col lect ing po t . I t is usual to t ap t w o spathes o n a t ree at once , a n d the average t ime taken to pa re away each spa the varies f rom 30-90 days, d e p e n d i n g o n the skilfulness of the tapper . In a t o d d y t ope t he trees w h i c h are be ing t apped are usually " coupled " t o g e t h e r by ropes w h i c h enables o n e man to m a n a g e a b o u t o n e h u n d r e d trees a day. If, howeve r , t he trees have t o b e c l imbed individual ly then a s ingle t apper cou ld w o r k in a day only a b o u t 35 pa lms . • T h e p resen t m e t h o d s of t app ing and col lect ion appear to have been in use in the I s land for an indefinitely l o n g p e r i o d and in spi te of certain m i n o r refinements effected d u r i n g the last 25 years , the way the r a w mater ial is handled at the topes still leaves m u c h r o o m for i m p r o v e m e n t . T h e t oddy , for example , is usually d r a w n in the same p o t day after day, and it is neve r b r o u g h t d o w n a n d washed o r subs t i tu ted d u r i n g the e ight m o n t h s t app ing season unless it happens to break . T h e p u n g e n c y in flavour a n d smell associated w i t h toddy , wh ich makes i t repuls ive to m o s t peop le , is doubt less ly d u e t o put refac t ive o rgan i sms wh ich collect in t he d regs after the p o t s have b e e n i n use for a b o u t a week . A c c o r d i n g to a r epo r t issued b y the G o v e r n m e n t Analys t in 1917' , m o r e than 35 k inds of wi ld yeasts and bacter ia have been isolated f rom a sample of disti l lery t o d d y . P r io r to 1931 it was cus tomary to send the t o d d y collected at the topes direct t o t he distil leries, b u t f rom tha t year a n e w system has been in t roduced by the Excise D e p a r t m e n t . U n d e r this scheme (which is still in ope ra t ion) , t o d d y con t rac to rs are requi red t o p r o v i d e " col lect ing s ta t ions " t o wh ich the raw mater ial is b r o u g h t f rom the topes and the re measured , before be ing t ranspor ted to the distilleries. Th i s m e t h o d doubt less ly facilitates check ing by Inspec to r s for qual i ty and quant i ty , w i t h the added advan tage of p r e v e n t i n g heavy leakages be tween t ope and distil lery. T h e toddy f rom the col lect ing s ta t ions is next transferred in to w o o d e n barrels of a b o u t 100 gal lons capacity which are t h e n rolled a long the roads t o the disti l lery o r are t r anspor ted t h i t he r in carts o r lorr ies . C o m m e n c i n g f rom 1937, w i t h the consent of the disti l lers, a system of g radua ted s t ra ining of the raw material has been evolved w i t h success, w h i c h has n o w been m a d e compul so ry . T h e advan tages t o b e ga ined by this pract ice have been confirmed by exper iments wh ich p r o v e d tha t s t ra ined t o d d y reached the h ighes t alcohol con ten t an h o u r o r t w o before the uns t ra ined p r o d u c t . I t was also found tha t w h e n secondary (o r acetous) fe rmenta t ion set in , the s t rained t o d d y los t less a lcohol than the uns t ra ined mater ial . T h e first s tep in tbe r emova l of these suspended impur i t i es is n o w d o n e at t he t ope itself, w h e r e wicker baskets are used for r e m o v i n g the grosser foreign mat te r . T h e finer particles are then r emoved at the subsequen t s t ra in ing opera t ions w h i c h are carr ied o u t at t he receiving tubs of the collecting s ta t ions, a n d again at t he distilleries. I n cu r ren t pract ice , the t o d d y is passed 82 t h r o u g h " s taybr i te " steel wi re meshes of different gauges and ul t imately t h r o u g h c loth . T h i s m e t h o d of s t ra in ing excludes the so-called " ra-bath " (most ly vege tab le tissues f rom the spa the) w h i c h is a p p a r e n d y useless, if n o t injur ious t o the fe rmenta t ion process whereas the essential yeasts a re n o t he ld back o n the c loth . T h e t o d d y t reated in this m a n n e r is definitely cleaner and m o r e agreeable t o tas te and smell . BIBLIOGRAPHY 1 . F a i r l e y , T . 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