Indian Spirits
A Conversation with Adam Jacob
For Adam Jacob, spirits have always been woven into family life. Raised in London in a household where whisky carried a certain reverence, some of his earliest memories of the drinks world came through stories shared by his father and grandfather. Those stories, however, stretched far beyond the whisky cabinet. They spoke of coconut trees, freshly tapped toddy, and a culture of local spirits that Adam had never experienced firsthand.
Years later, travelling through India while building Maharaja Drinks, he began to realise those childhood stories were not relics of the past. Across places like Goa, a new generation of distillers and producers are rediscovering and refining traditional spirits, from coconut and cashew feni to the deeply historic mahua.
What began as curiosity soon became something deeper: a journey into heritage, craftsmanship, and the revival of drinks that were once dismissed as rustic curiosities.
We spoke with Adam about whisky, family stories, and the moment he realised India’s drinks culture was far richer than he had imagined.
ON GROWING UP A WHISKY MAN
Before discovering these heritage Indian spirits, what did the drinks world look like to you?
Adam: If you’d asked me a few years ago about Indian spirits, I probably would’ve said whisky. Maybe a slightly suspiciously named gin as well. That was about it.
But I’ve always been a whisky man at heart. My father was, and his father before him. I remember very clearly the first time I had a sip of one of my dad’s special single malts not long after my 18th birthday. It felt like a small rite of passage.
From there it becomes a bit of a journey. You start paying attention to flavours, to regions, to the way different spirits are made. That curiosity eventually led me down the road that became Maharaja Drinks.
“Whisky was my entry point, but curiosity about how and why people make spirits is what really pulled me deeper.”
ON FAMILY STORIES AND DISTANT TRADITIONS
Did your father’s experiences influence your interest in spirits beyond whisky?
Adam: Absolutely. When I was younger he used to tell stories about growing up in India and the kinds of drinks people would make locally.
Of course there were the classic stories about sneaking a dram or two from my grandfather’s drinks cabinet. But there were also stories that felt rooted in something older. Something tied to place and tradition.
ON TODDY, COCONUT TREES, AND CHILDHOOD IMAGINATION
What sort of traditions were you hearing about?
Adam: My father would talk about the coconut trees in the garden of his childhood home and how nobody was technically supposed to tap them for toddy. That was very much against the rules.
But despite this, the groundskeeper would somehow still appear at the kitchen door around lunchtime looking a little worse for wear.
As a kid that felt like a story from another world. I assumed those kinds of traditions had probably faded away as India modernised.
“Those childhood stories about toddy and coconut trees always felt a bit mythical to me.”
ON DISCOVERING THAT THE TRADITIONS NEVER DISAPPEARED
And when you eventually travelled to India yourself, what did you find?
Adam: The biggest surprise was realising those traditions hadn’t disappeared at all. In fact they’re coming back.
For a long time drinks like toddy or feni were dismissed as country moonshine. Something made quietly in gardens or small village stills.
But now there’s this growing movement of people producing them with incredible care and pride. Real craftsmanship.
It was genuinely exciting to see.
ON A FIRST TRIP TO GOA
Do you remember the moment it really clicked for you?
Adam: Our first trip to Goa stands out. We went there specifically to explore the craft distilling scene.
I remember sitting under the trees in the wild gardens at Dudhsagar Plantation and trying a spiced feni. Something about it immediately reminded me of Christmas. Those warm spice notes, the richness of it. It was one of those moments where a drink suddenly connects memory, place, and flavour all at once.
That’s when I started to realise there was a much deeper story here.
“Sitting under those trees in Goa with a glass of spiced feni, I realised the stories I grew up hearing were very real.”
ON THE PEOPLE REVIVING FENI
Who were some of the people shaping that scene?
Adam: We spent time with a brilliant sibling team at Goenchi who are doing incredible work refining both coconut and cashew feni. They’re really focused on expressing the natural character of the ingredients rather than masking it.
What impressed me most was the respect for tradition combined with a willingness to experiment. They’re not trying to erase the past. They’re building on it.
ON MAHUA AND THE HERITAGE MOVEMENT
You also encountered mahua during that journey.
Adam: Yes, through DesmondJi, who many people consider the father of the heritage spirits movement in India.
Mahua has an incredibly complex history. It’s deeply tied to indigenous communities and cultural traditions, but it’s also faced a lot of stigma and regulation over the years.
Listening to him talk about it really opened my eyes to how much heritage and identity can be wrapped up in a spirit.
“These drinks aren’t just products. They carry stories, communities, and history inside them.”
ON THE FUTURE OF INDIAN SPIRITS
After everything you’ve seen, how do you view the future of Indian spirits?
Adam: I think the potential is enormous. Most people internationally still only know a handful of Indian drinks. Whisky, maybe a couple of gins.
But there’s so much more beneath the surface.
What excites me most is the balance between innovation and preservation. You have producers experimenting with modern techniques and new ideas while still protecting traditions that go back generations.
If that continues, I genuinely believe India could become a global leader in the drinks world. Not just because of innovation, but because of its ability to preserve and celebrate its extraordinary heritage.
