What People Drink in South Asia: 6 Traditional Beverages That Define the Region

From tropical coasts to high Himalayan valleys, South Asia’s drinks mirror its climates and crops. Palm groves yield sap for toddy and arrack along the shores, while millet and rice thrive on terraced hillsides, feeding ancient ferments and rustic stills.

Alcohol marks hospitality, ritual, and harvest. You’ll find village brews sipped warm in winter, coastal spirits mixed with soda at dusk, and festival pours offered to deities—each shaped by geography, monsoon rhythms, and long-standing craft.

Arrack in Sri Lanka is a distilled spirit made from naturally fermented coconut flower sap (toddy). Toddy tappers collect the sweet sap at dawn by walking between palms on coir ropes; ambient yeasts begin fermentation immediately, yielding a 4–7% ABV wash. Distillation follows in pot or column stills to about 33–40% ABV. Some expressions rest in hardwood—often local Halmilla—lending gentle vanilla and spice, while unaged styles stay clear and grassy. On the palate, good arrack is light-bodied, with aromas of coconut blossom, green banana, and a faint ester lift. Historically traded under the “Ceylon arrack” name, it remains a coastal staple, sipped with soda, ginger beer, or lime in Colombo’s bars and beachside villages. It pairs easily with seafood and spicy short eats, and is poured at weddings and holiday gatherings. If you’re exploring Sri Lanka’s western and southern coasts, ask for a simple arrack-lime highball in Colombo to taste the island’s toddy-tapping heritage.

Feni is Goa’s emblematic spirit, distilled from cashew apple (and historically coconut) with a Geographical Indication since 2009. The cashew fruit—introduced by the Portuguese in the 16th century—gets crushed to release juice that ferments with wild yeasts. A first distillate called urrak (roughly 10–16% ABV) arrives early in the season and drinks like a fruity, lightly effervescent aperitif. A second run concentrates the spirit to about 42–45% ABV, typically in copper pot stills (bhatti). Good cashew feni smells distinctly of ripe tropical fruit, green apple, and resinous cashew notes, with a peppery finish. It is poured neat with a twist of lime rind, with tonic or cola, or blended into citrus-forward cocktails around Panaji’s taverns and village bars during the hot pre-monsoon months. Small-batch producers in Goa’s hinterland still use artisanal presses and slow distillation, making feni a tangible link between orchard, monsoon timing, and local cuisine—think salted chouriço, spicy seafood, and pickled mango.

Raksi is Nepal’s traditional clear spirit, usually distilled from millet or rice with a local fermentation starter (murcha) that contains yeasts and molds. After a multi-day ferment, families heat the mash in a metal pot still (bhatti), condensing vapors through bamboo or copper tubing to collect a 40–50% ABV spirit. Aromas range from cereal and light smoke (from wood-fired stills) to soft anise-like esters; flavors can be slightly oily, with a peppery kick and warming finish—ideal for high-altitude evenings. Raksi is central to social life and ritual among many communities; it is poured for guests, used in offerings during Dashain and Tihar, and shared at weddings. You’ll encounter it in Kathmandu’s traditional eateries and rural homestays across hill districts. While related Newar “aaila” is a stronger, ritual spirit, raksi remains the everyday mountain pour: a compact snapshot of terraced grains, cool nights that favor fermentation, and intergenerational distilling knowledge passed down through families.

Tongba refers to both a bamboo vessel and the drink inside: a fermented millet beer of the Limbu and other communities in eastern Nepal and neighboring Sikkim. Steamed millet is inoculated with a murcha-type starter and left to ferment into a tangy, grainy brew roughly in the 4–7% ABV range before service. To drink, hot water is poured over the fermented grains in the tongba; you sip through a perforated metal straw, refreshing with more hot water as flavor wanes. The result is aromatic and comforting—malty, lightly sour, with lactic notes and a gentle warmth perfect for cold nights. Tongba accompanies winter meals, community gatherings, and festivals; it’s common in mountain towns and homestays from Ilam and Dharan to Gangtok. Unlike clear spirits, tongba expresses terroir through the millet variety, the ambient microbes, and the temperature of Himalayan kitchens—an everyday reminder that altitude and season shape how people drink.

Toddy—called kallu in much of South India—is the lightly alcoholic sap of coconut or date palms, tapped at dawn and left to ferment spontaneously. Within hours, sugars convert to a cloudy, gently fizzy drink of 3–8% ABV, with aromas of fresh coconut, green apple, and faint vinegar if left too long. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, toddy shops near Kochi serve it alongside spicy fish curry, tapioca, and fried mussels; cooks also use toddy to leaven appam and kallappam batter. Variants from date palm (taḍi/tari) appear in parts of eastern India and rural Bangladesh during cool, dry months when sap flow is highest. Toddy is best consumed the same day—often by late morning or at dusk—when the balance of sweetness and acidity is brightest. Because it is perishable and low-ABV, toddy remains hyper-local, tied to palm health, monsoon timing, and skilled tapping that keeps trees productive through the season.

Ara is Bhutan’s traditional grain spirit, home-distilled from rice, maize, or wheat in simple pot stills fired by wood. A fermented mash is heated and condensed to yield a clear, robust liquor typically 40–55% ABV. Depending on grain and still technique, aromas range from steamed rice and toasted corn to faint smoke; the palate is warming, slightly sweet, and sometimes softened with butter or spiced for cold-weather sipping. Ara appears in both secular and sacred contexts: it may be offered to deities in household rituals, shared in community gatherings, or served to guests—especially in winter—across farmsteads and taverns around Thimphu and the central valleys. Production is largely small-scale and seasonal, aligned with harvest cycles of terrace-grown grains. In a landscape where nights are crisp for much of the year, ara functions as hospitality, caloric warmth, and cultural continuity—one reason it endures alongside newer commercial beers and imports.