India’s First Alcohol Museum, Another Spot Added To Goa’s Itinerary

Goa, the nation’s unofficial party capital has opened its doors to the country’s first-ever alcohol museum, ‘All About Alcohol.’ Goa, known for its locally distilled coconut or cashews-based drink Feni, has managed to attract tourists from all over India, who just come for a swig of this local drink. 

But when we think about it, there is nothing known about the history or variety of this drink. Now imagine a museum dedicated only to alcohol, showcasing the history, evolution, story behind the local adaptation, and consumption of feni, most popular ones being cashew feni and toddy palm feni. 

This is not all, the museum is situated in North Goa’s Candolim, a little beach village that is a house to century-old alcohol bottles, vintage glasses, and manufacturing equipment collected from all over the country and world.

Spreading across a gorgeous expanse of 13,000 square feet, it also has a Goan-style tavern with antique storage vessels that are from Portugal. 

The museum has five upscale rooms dedicated to feni cellars with bottles of cashew and coconut feni, that are as old as 1946.

Visiting guests are allowed to take part in the feni tasting and pairing sessions. The curators reveal the entire process of making feni. The guests are taken on a journey from distillation to fumigation, the tour is also accompanied by magnificent displays of historical vessels, urns, glassware, and alcohol-related equipment that have been painstakingly collected over the decades. 

Also Read: Goa Is Not At All Like They Show You In Movies

‘All About Alcohol’ is the most unique part of Goa’s history. The objective behind this museum was to make people aware of Goa’s rich heritage and the story of Feni. Educate them on the lesser-known facts about the well-known local drink.

This museum is the brainchild of Nandan Kudchadkar, he is the owner of a club known as LPK (Love Passion Karma) and a passionate collector of antiques.

The entire museum’s artifacts are filled from his personal collection that he had collected over 30 years. “The objective behind starting the museum was to make the world aware of Goa’s rich heritage, especially the story of feni, the strong local drink, and the legacy of the alcohol trail from Brazil to Goa,” said Nandan Kudchadkar.

Guests are given a whole tour of the museum unraveling the stories behind all the age-old artifacts, a few being, sugarcane crusher, a historic alcohol shot dispenser, glass vats, and many more. 

“I’ve done many alcohol tours and trails across the globe, but as far as I have seen, these are only run by brands—so if you go to Scotland, you can learn about a specific single malt’s journey, but it’s very hard to get an understanding of the history of the spirit in a cohesive manner,” Nandan Kudchadkar spoke to the media on the inspiration behind this boozy affair. 

“Similarly, in Russia, the people feel happy to showcase the drinks they have. When we come to India, we project alcohol differently. Following my instincts, I decided to set up India’s first museum dedicated to alcohol here,” he continued. 

“In 2016, Govt declared feni as the ‘heritage drink’. It is important because many cultures have embraced their cultural brews such as Champagne and Vodka,” added Armando Duarte, the CEO of the Alcohol Museum. 

This one-of-a-kind museum is open from 4:00 pm to 8.30 pm. One can visit this place free of cost. So, when in Goa don’t forget to give this place a visit. 

Image Sources: Google Images, Instagram

Sources: ANI News, Times Of India, Hindustan Times, +More 

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This post is tagged under: India, Alcohol Museum, Goa, party capital, feni, coconut, cashews-based, drink, tourists, swig, local drink, All About Alcohol, toddy palm feni, North Goa, Candolim, beach village, alcohol bottles, vintage glasses,  manufacturing equipment, Goan-style tavern, antique storage vessels, Portugal, urns, glassware, Nandan Kudchadkar, artifacts, sugarcane crusher, a historic alcohol shot dispenser, glass vats, boozy affair, decades, rich heritage, Armando Duarte, CEO, one-of-a-kind museum, cultural brews

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