A drink tapped from a flower, not a fruit
Coconut palm toddy — kallu in Tamil, tuak in Malay, palm wine across much of the tropics — is the sap of the coconut palm. A tapper climbs the tree, cuts the flower inflorescence, and binds a container beneath it. The sap runs overnight.
Fresh sap is sweet and non-alcoholic. It does not stay that way. Wild yeasts on the flower begin fermenting it within hours in the tropical heat, and it turns cloudy, sour and mildly alcoholic on its own. Nothing is added to make this happen.
Why it vanished from Singapore
Toddy shops were part of Singapore life for generations. In 1979, following a dispute over tappers’ wages, the last of them closed and toddy effectively disappeared. For over forty years you could not buy it here.
Highdrate Pte. Ltd. was set up in 2020 to bring it back — the first to do so since the ban. We import under a Singapore Food Agency permit.
What ours is
- Tapped from regulated plantations in Malaysia
- Chilled and into Singapore within 24 hours of tapping
- Nothing added — no preservatives, no colouring, no added flavouring
- 45-day shelf life, kept chilled
- 500ml PET bottle, 750ml glass bottle, 1.05L PET bottle
What it tastes like
Lightly sweet with a sour edge and a yeasty coconut aroma, a little like a very young cider. It grows drier and more sour the longer it sits. Drink it cold, straight from the fridge.
Toddy is an alcoholic beverage. Not for sale to persons under 18. Please drink responsibly.