Quick answer
Toddy is the fermented sap of the coconut flower, a cloudy palm wine of roughly four to eight per cent alcohol that must be drunk the day it is tapped. Arrack is the spirit made by distilling toddy, bottled at roughly 33 to 40 per cent and stable for years. Toddy is sour-sweet, yeasty and lightly fizzy; arrack is clear to amber, smooth and floral. Toddy is sold in licensed taverns near the tapping groves, while arrack is sold in bottle shops, bars and hotels across Sri Lanka.
Key takeaways
- Toddy is fermented coconut sap at roughly four to eight per cent alcohol; arrack is distilled toddy at 33 to 40 per cent.
- Fresh toddy lasts only a day, while a sealed bottle of arrack keeps indefinitely.
- It takes roughly eight to ten litres of toddy to make one litre of arrack at bottling strength.
- Toddy is sold in licensed taverns close to where it is tapped, mainly on the west coast and in the north.
- Both toddy and arrack are unavailable on poya days, when all alcohol sales stop.
Arrack vs toddy: the difference in one table
Arrack and toddy are two stages of the same product. Toddy is the wine and arrack is the brandy, to borrow a comparison from grapes.
- →What it is: fermented sap for toddy; distilled spirit for arrack.
- →Strength: roughly four to eight per cent; roughly 33 to 40 per cent.
- →Look: cloudy white; clear, gold or amber.
- →Taste: sour-sweet and yeasty; smooth, floral and lightly nutty.
- →Shelf life: one day; many years.
Toddy: the fresh drink
Toddy is collected from coconut palms by tappers every morning and evening. Wild yeasts ferment the sweet sap in the pot, and by the time it reaches the ground it is already mildly alcoholic.
Toddy keeps changing all day. In the morning it is soft and a little sweet, by afternoon sharp and stronger, and by the next day well on the way to vinegar. That short life is why it never became an export and why most of it is distilled.
Arrack: the distilled spirit
Arrack is what distillers make from toddy to capture and keep it. The toddy is run through pot or column stills within about a day of tapping, which concentrates the alcohol and removes the yeast and solids.
Arrack is then rested or aged in halmilla wood vats and bottled. A great deal of sap goes into each bottle: as a rough guide, eight to ten litres of toddy yield one litre of arrack, which is several trees' output for a day.
Where to drink toddy and where to drink arrack
Toddy and arrack are sold in different kinds of place, and the two settings could hardly be less alike.
- →Toddy taverns: simple, licensed, daytime venues near the groves, used mainly by local men.
- →Tapping demonstrations: the most comfortable way for visitors to taste fresh toddy.
- →Wine stores: licensed bottle shops selling arrack to take away.
- →Hotel bars and restaurants: arrack by the glass and in cocktails.
Strength, safety and how each affects you
Toddy is roughly as strong as beer and is drunk by the glass or bottle, so the amounts are familiar. The catch is that it is unpasteurised and live, and a sensitive stomach may object. Start with a small glass in the morning.
Arrack is a spirit and should be treated as one. It is usually poured long with soda or ginger beer, which hides its strength in the heat. Buy only sealed, tax-stamped bottles, and never accept unlabelled spirit, which may be illicit kasippu.
Trying both on the same trip
Trying toddy and arrack on the same trip is easy on the west and south coasts. A morning stop near Wadduwa or Kalutara covers the toddy, and any evening covers the arrack.
Lankan Stays & Trails can arrange both in one day: a dawn visit to a tapper, a taste of sweet and fermented toddy, and a comparative arrack tasting at your hotel that evening.
- →Choose toddy if you are curious and happy with rustic flavours.
- →Choose arrack if you want something polished and easy to like.
- →Try them in that order, toddy first, to follow the sap from tree to bottle.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between arrack and toddy?
Toddy is fermented palm sap, a cloudy drink of roughly four to eight per cent alcohol that lasts a day. Arrack is the spirit distilled from toddy, bottled at roughly 33 to 40 per cent and able to keep for years. Arrack is made from toddy.
Which is stronger, toddy or arrack?
Arrack is far stronger. Toddy has about the strength of beer or cider, at roughly four to eight per cent alcohol. Arrack is a distilled spirit at roughly 33 to 40 per cent, five to eight times stronger by volume.
How much toddy makes a bottle of arrack?
As a rough guide, eight to ten litres of toddy are needed for one litre of arrack at bottling strength, so a 750 ml bottle represents around six to eight litres of sap. That is the daily yield of several coconut palms.
Does toddy taste like arrack?
No. Toddy is sour-sweet, yeasty and slightly fizzy, like a cloudy rustic cider. Arrack is clean and smooth with floral and nutty notes. Distillation removes the yeast and acidity, and ageing in wood adds roundness, so the link is hard to taste.
Is toddy legal in Sri Lanka?
Yes. Tapping, selling and drinking toddy are legal under licence. Toddy is sold in licensed taverns, and some producers sell pasteurised bottled toddy through licensed shops. As with all alcohol, the purchase age is 21 and nothing is sold on poya days.
Can you make arrack from other palms?
Yes. In northern Sri Lanka, toddy from the palmyrah palm is distilled into palmyrah arrack. Toddy from the kithul or fishtail palm is also drunk in the hill country, though most kithul sap is boiled into treacle and jaggery instead.