Telangana’s first Neera Cafe an instant hit, over 4,000 litres sold in eight days

At Neera Cafe, the drink is stored at temperatures below -4 degree Celsius to prevent it from fermenting.

Once fermented, it becomes toddy — locally called Kallu.

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Huge turnout

People lined up at the café in large numbers to buy neera ever since the establishment was opened. The café is open from 10 am to 9 pm.

Crowd gathered at Neera Cafe to buy the drink. (South First)

Authorities said around 4,000 litres of neera has been sold until now, and they were looking to expand the cafe’s capacity to 1,000 litres a day to meet the high demand.

South First spoke to the people waiting to taste the drink, most of them out of curiosity.

Even the people who had tasted the drink after buying it from tappers, turned up to check if the drink tasted the same.

“I came here out of curiosity and wanted to know its taste. I also want to know its benefits,” R Mohan, a resident of Hyderabad, told South First.

Procured at source

The toddy is sourced from the Goud community members in Mudwin and Cherikonda villages in the Rangareddy district, almost 50 km away from Hyderabad. It is stored in sub-zero temperature right after tapping till it is served to the customers.

“Exposure of the sap to normal temperature will ferment it in a matter of minutes. To avoid it and serve the drink alcohol-free, we are storing it in icepacks from the moment it is tapped,” an official at the café told South First.

Telangana’s Excise and Prevention Minister V Srinivas Goud, who incidentally hails from the same community of tappers, inaugurated the outlet.

The Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC) will maintain the café with support from the state Prohibition and Excise Department.

Besides neera, the cafe also sells palm jaggery, sugar, and honey.

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The drink

Neera is the sap of the palmyra palm which, in Telangana, has been sold mostly in the local markets.

Usually, it is sold fermented as toddy. However, in Neera Café, it is alcohol-free.

The sap, after it is collected from the palm, is transferred to a container with ice gels.

Neera drink. (South First)

“The ice gels will be covered with food-grade plastic sheets to prevent them from contaminating the drink. They will prevent fermentation,” an official told South First.

The drink, after an initial filtration, is transferred to cans and transported to the Neera Café in a refrigerated van.

It is then poured into a machine specifically prepared for processing and packaging the drink.

The packing machine is developed based on the technology by ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute in Kerala’s Kasaragod district.

The Neera business

A 175 ml glass of neera is sold for ₹50 while a 300 ml bottle costs ₹90.

However, those who had purchased the drink directly from tappers felt the price was high.

“We get a litre of neera from the tappers for around ₹50 a litre,” a man at the café told South First.

“The prices fixed by the tappers might be low because the neera we offer here is filtered and free of contamination. The higher price here is a result of the transportation cost and the cost of preserving it without adding any artificial substance,” the official said.

The drink has a shelf life of four days.

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People’s reaction

The drink evoked mixed feelings in customers. First-timers were elated after tasting it. Those who had tasted neera earlier felt its authentic flavour was missing.

“The drink is good. But it tastes different from what I had tasted earlier. The real flavour is missing here, perhaps due to continuous refrigeration,” Phanindra Prasad, a Hyderabad resident, told South First.

“I’m having this drink for the first time. I liked the taste and it was refreshing. The cafe’s ambience is also good,” Neha Verma of Uttar Pradesh, settled in Hyderabad, said.

She also opined the boating in the lake beside the cafe added to the experience.

Recently, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced the “Gita Karmikula Bheema” for the benefit of toddy tappers.

It will be modelled on Rythu Bheema to help tappers’ families in the unfortunate event of the breadwinner’s untimely death.

Under the scheme, the family of the toddy tapper will get an insurance amount of ₹5 lakh. The money would be credited to the account of the next of kin of the tapper.