Raksi (ROCK-see)

Raksi is a light-flavored alcoholic beverage analogous to sake, but made from millet as rice is not common in most of the stony and relatively drier land that makes up the majority of the Realm. It doesn't involve hops in its production and has a higher alcohol content, so it is more properly called a millet wine than a beer. it does involve one of over 30 different varieties of yeast, which lend different formulations their distinctive regional raksi flavor, ranging from fragrant to flowery to fruity. Additional flavorings such as huckleberry juice in the north or coconut oil in the south may be added, but generally not prior to fermentation.
Whether taken with a meal, after a meal, or as a standalone pleasure, Raksi is served warm, in small glazed earthenware pitchers containing about 4 cups of liquid. These are traditionally heated in the ashes around the embers of the cookfire, then wrapped in a white cloth to keep ashes off the drinkers, but may also be warmed with less effort and mess by boiling the pitcher in a pot of hot water. Raksi pitchers are family heirlooms in even the poorest families in the realms, and potters may specialize in the art of the Raksi pitcher to the exclusion of other types of vessels. Nevertheless even a cheap, utilitarian terracotta pitcher will do in a pinch.
Raksi is a popular and everpresent alcoholic beverage, along with all the usual standards in any decent tavern, a little more alcoholic than the usual wines but less than whisky or rum. On special occasions it may be poured into a tall, narrow glass from a great height, creating a spectacle in which the best pourers don't spill a single drop. 
Raksi is the distilled form of Jand; Jand is a simple homemade beer on its own, easy enough for any millet farmer or even the relatively poor to ferment for themselves if they have a place for a couple of weeks to do it, a tightly sealable container of cooked millet in water and live yeast. But distillation into Raksi uses specialized copper and earthenware pots with particular perforations, as well as a lot of firewood and constant care to keep the fire not too hot and not too cool as the liquid collects on the condenser and flows into the earthenware pitcher.
Interestingly, Raksi appears to confer a temporary resistance to the worst symptoms of altitude sickness.
As the basic ingredients of Raksi are fairly standardized, the difference between a very rare and a common distillation may be lost on most palates; by all accounts it has a cheerful, slightly sweet start, is pleasantly warm down the throat (intensified by being served warm) and a soft, velvety finish that still leaves the mouth clean rather than thick as some beers and wines can. Indeed, its ready availability and the delight it almost always creates have led to a great deal of dissolution among out of work laborers, and fuels some low-level banditry as unskilled workers are more willing to steal a few coins and drink all day than to make a few more coins but work all day rather than drinking. Organized temperance movements spring up now and again but are rarely taken seriously by anyone.

Manufacturing process

Distillation - Produces Raksi

1. The ingredients are first fermented into Jand, a process that takes about 2 weeks of fermentation.
2. finished Jand is reheated in a copper pot with perforated lid over an earthenware pot, sealed in a larger copper container. This is done over a wood fire where temperature is strictly monitored and maintained.
3. The vapor passes through and condenses inside the perforated earthenware jar
4. The runoff then condenses a second time on the outer copper vessel which acts as the final condenser, with the poisonous grain slurry usable in other chemical reactions/alchemy
5. The distilled Raksi is usually also filtered through a series of thin, porous fired earthenware lattices. Flavoring may be added after this stage.
6. The final product is sealed in 4-cup earthenware jars stoppered with a corkwood plug that can be pulled with a common barbed tool or a corkscrew. No wax is used on the seals as the beverage is normally served warm, but many distillations have a wet clay seal over the cork that dries over time; when it crumbles a few months later, the distillation is fully rested.

History

An exceedingly ancient beverage, mentions of Raksi under various names appear in the sacred literature of many species and ancestries in the Realm. The beverage is considered sacred to Danildee, but as she is the Goddess of Joy, the drink is to be taken with a light heart rather than a stoic reverence. It is considered one of the fundamental proofs of the love of the Gods for their creation. Its origins likely go back to the origins of millet itself, the earliest farmers who discovered the small grain that over the millennia was hybridized into millet. Perhaps the grain itself was selected for its flavor in the beverage, rather than the other way around.

Significance

Access to Raksi is considered a basic sapient right in the realm; soldiers, sailors and even prisoners are served a ration of Raksi. Its close association with the goddess Danildee has in turn added to her widespread popularity and significance at or near the top of the polytheistic pantheon of the Realm.

Item type

Consumable, Food / Drink

Creation Date

Prehistory

Current Location

The Realm

Related ethnicities

• Esterline
• Maseracht

Rarity

Everpresent in the Realm, as common as beer and more common than wine. However certain distillations are considered more rare, such as the high mountain March Raksi distilled by halfling monks in the far northeast lands of the Realms.

Weight

32 ounces, about 1 liter

Base Price

2sp to 3gp depending on quality and rarity

Raw materials & Components

millet

yeast

earthenware fermentation pot

copper pots

distillation equipment

firewood

earthenware Raksi pitcher