Panel discussion on
“Heritage Liquors of India: Issues and Possibilities”

Organised by The International Centre Goa

Sunday | 9th September 2018 | 4.30 pm – 7.00 pm

Speakers:
Desmond Nazareth
Principal founder and MD od Agave India

Rahul Srivastava
Social anthropologist, co-founder of urbz.net

Aniruddha Mookerjee
Author, wildlife researcher

Gurudatta Bhakta
Head, Goa Cashew Distillers & Bottlers Association

This panel will explore the origins, evolution and the future of Indian indigenous brews and spirits such as Tadi, Feni, Mahua, Handiya, Roksi, Apong and Kesar kasturi among many others

“Feni and Mahua tasting — NO GLASSES PROVIDED — please bring your own 60ml or 90ml shot glass”

Entry free and open to all by first serve basis
RSVP your registrations to pro@incentgoa.com

Desmond Nazareth
Desmond Nazareth is the principal founder and MD of Agave India, a company set up in 2007. Agave India is India’s first and only rurally based ‘greenfield’ small batch ‘field-to-bottle’ and ‘forest-to-bottle’ craft distillery, using Indian know-how and raw materials. Desmond has been instrumental in formulating the 2018 pot-still based alcohol manufacturing standards in India.

Agave India makes international quality Indian agave spirits, Indian sugar cane spirits and mahua spirits, as well as orange and mahua liqueur. Their products are sold under the master brand name, ‘DesmondJi’, or ‘DJ’, and some being exported to the USA and Europe. The most recent products are DJ Mahua spirit and DJ Mahua liqueur, which were released in Goa in June, 2018.

Desmond is a successful serial entrepreneur, with international work and travel experience, in a variety of fields. He has been educated in pure and applied sciences, computer science and multimedia (B. Tech., IIT Madras, India; Masters in Computer Science / Film and TV production, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA). He grew up in India, studied and worked for 17 years in the USA, moved back to India in 2000 and is currently based in Goa, India.

Rahul Srivastava
Rahul Srivastava studied social anthropology at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, J.N.U, New Delhi and Cambridge University, U.K. He is co-author with Rudolf C Heredia, of “Tribal Identity and Minority Status, the Kathkari nomads in Transition” (1994) that looked at urbanizing indigenous communities around Mumbai. Presently he is co-founder of urbz.net along with Matias Echanove and Geeta Mehta. urbz is a global action and research collective with offices in Mumbai, Goa, Geneva and beyond.
He collaborates with planners, architects and other practitioners to work on habitat and livelihood related issues in diverse contexts – those formally classified as urban, rural and forest-based. Over the last several years he and Matias Echanove have done a detailed research study on “Circulatory Lives”, looking at migration and urban contexts on the Konkan coast in India, with the Mobile Lives Forum, Paris. The work of urbz has been shown at various venues around the world including MoMA (New York), Centre for Contemporary Culture (Bordeaux), Chicago Cultural Centre, (Chicago), Maxii (Rome), Bhau Daji Lad Museum, (Mumbai), among others. His writings, co-authored with Matias Echanove, have appeared in the New York Times, Oxford University Press, Wall Street Journal, New Village Press and Strelka. He is working closely with an indigenous community from Maharashtra in setting up a collective on Mahua as a forest produce for markets.

Aniruddha Mookerjee
Growing up in a food and drink obsessed environment, Aniruddha, aka Jhampan ‘s interest in Indian indigenous alcohol developed during his years as a journalist in the east and north-east. He has been tasting brews, collecting spirits, and sometimes working hands-on with communities to learn their art, for over two decades now. He has travelled extensively in the interiors of central India, the north-east and the south to sample and understand the history, socio-economics and cultural practices related to brews and spirits sourced from Flowers, Grains, Palm sap and Fruits. His book, “Searching for Soma: A Quest for Indian Spirit,” has been commissioned by Harper Collins.

When sober, he researches wildlife trade as a consultant to the University of Oxford and is a Senior Advisor to the Wildlife Trust of India. He has studied economics and film making.

Gurudatta Bhakta
Graduate of Commerce and thereafter ventured into the family business of Distilling & Bottling of Country Liquors which was established in the year 1969. In the year 2009 was successful in obtaining the prestigious G.I. for Cashew feni in association with the Department of Science and Technology Govt. of Goa while being the Secretary of Goa Cashew Distillers & Bottlers Association. Further in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agriculture Research Institute at Goa developed the fermentation process of Cashew juice which is in the process of patenting.
Cazcar is now a Heritage Distiller carrying forward the legacy of Goa, distilling Caju feni in the century old traditional method of Launi i.e, copper bhaan for heating and clay pot for receiving distillate. The second method of using copper bhaan and copper coil. Fully SS distillation plant as modern method.
The range of Caju Feni produced begins with Limited Edition of Launi, Best (Traditional) & Masala wherein 16 types of herbs & condiments go into the distillation, in addition Cazcar is also the sole producer of Feni Freezer a carbonated ready to drink with launi caju feni as base.
Cazcars manufacturing of caju feni is completely in house from procuring cashew apples to extraction of juice in SS extractor, aerobic fermentation in ceramic fermented with jointly developed technology traditional, semi and modern methods of distillation and bottling with international packaging.