What is arrack?
Arrack: Batavia arrack is a funky Indonesian spirit from sugarcane and fermented red rice, used in old punches. (Arak from the Middle East is anise, a different drink.)
- Category
- Spirit
- Taste
- Funky, smoky, a bit like rum crossed with sake.
- Strength
- About 50% ABV
- Similar to
- funky Jamaican rum
- Also called
- batavia arrack, arak
The story
Batavia was the Dutch name for Jakarta. The Dutch East India Company shipped this arrack around the world in the 1600s and 1700s, and it was the backbone of the punch bowls of Georgian London.