A distilled alcoholic drink made from fermented palm sap, rice, or sugarcane, popular in South and Southeast Asia. It has a strong, distinctive flavor.
From Arabic عَرَق (ʿaraq), meaning 'sweat' or referring to the condensation in distillation. The word spread through trade routes to describe various local spirits in Asia. Dutch and Portuguese traders helped spread both the word and distillation techniques.
The word 'arrack' literally means 'sweat' in Arabic, referring to the droplets of condensed alcohol that form during distillation! This poetic name for the distillation process traveled with Islamic alchemists and became the generic term for strong spirits across Asia.
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