arrack

Etymology

See arak.

noun

1. An alcoholic drink distilled from coconut palm flowers in South Asia.
   […] the cocoa-nut tree yields a pure draught from a dry and barren land; a cup of water to the temperate and thirsty traveler; a cup of cream from the pressed kernel; a cup of refreshing and sparkling toddy to the early riser; a cup of arrack to the hardened spirit-drinker, and a cup of oil, by the light of which I now extol its merits—five separate and distinct liquids from the same tree! 1873 [1855], Samuel White Baker, Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon, J. B. Lippincott & Co., pages 272–273
   Ceylon teaches many lessons. The liquor traffic, for instance, is managed throughout the entire island as a governmental monopoly. […] Pure arrack only can be sold at fixed prices, and lessees are held to strict account for drunkenness and disturbances. 1884, Andrew Carnegie, Round the World, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pages 171–172
2. An alcoholic drink made from sugar cane and fermented red rice in Indonesia.
   Like rum, proper Batavia arrack from Indonesia, also known as arak or rack, is distilled from sugarcane. Unlike rum, it has a healthy dose of red rice added to the mash. 2015, Matthew Rowley, Lost Recipes of Prohibition: Notes from a Bootlegger's Manual, The Countryman Press
   Today, arrack is still produced and consumed in parts of Indonesia. It has a particular important position among the Hindus in Bali and Lombok, who use it in ritual and sometimes also in the non-ritual, secular context. 2021, Jiří Jákl, Alcohol in Early Java: Its Social and Cultural Significance, BRILL, page 109
3. Alternative spelling of arak (“aniseed-flavored alcoholic drink consumed primarily in the Middle East”).