A clear spirit distilled at home from millet or rice, drunk warm from small metal cups. It is distilled in copper stills in hill villages and offered to guests and to deities; household production is legal across much of Nepal.
Distilling is licensed or prohibited in most of the atlas’s readership even where Nepal permits household production, and a village still without a proper cut leaves methanol in the cup.
What goes into it
- millet or rice
- murcha starter cake
- water
How it is made
Grain is cooked, cooled and mixed with a crushed murcha starter, then left to ferment for a week or more. The fermented mash is distilled in a stacked copper vessel over a fire, with a cold-water pan on top acting as the condenser and a bowl inside catching the drops. It is drunk unaged.
How long it takes: a week or more to ferment, then a day to distil
How it is eaten
Warm from a small metal cup, offered to guests and poured for the household deities first.
History
Distilled in copper stills in hill villages and offered to guests and deities; production is legal for household use across much of Nepal.
Frequently asked questions
What is Raksi?
Raksi is a wine & spirit from Nepal: clear spirit distilled at home from millet or rice, drunk warm from small metal cups. Distilled in copper stills in hill villages and offered to guests and deities; production is legal for household use across much of Nepal.
How is Raksi made?
Grain is cooked, cooled and mixed with a crushed murcha starter, then left to ferment for a week or more. The fermented mash is distilled in a stacked copper vessel over a fire, with a cold-water pan on top acting as the condenser and a bowl inside catching the drops. It is drunk unaged. It takes a week or more to ferment, then a day to distil.
Can I make Raksi at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. Distilling is licensed or prohibited in most of the atlas’s readership even where Nepal permits household production, and a village still without a proper cut leaves methanol in the cup.
What goes into Raksi?
Millet or rice, murcha starter cake, water.
How is Raksi eaten?
Warm from a small metal cup, offered to guests and poured for the household deities first.
