One of the stops we made briefly on our trip to Mount Popa was to this Jaggery and Palm Wine workshop.

Both the Jaggery and the Palm Wine are produced from the palm trees growing in the area.

Jaggery is essentially palm sugar. Its dark brown in colour and approximately the texture and flavour of burnt, crystalised fudge.  At this particular location, which was similar to many in this village, they were using the Ox mill which squeezes the palm sap to create jaggery palm sugars.   Jaggery is often served as a sweet after a meal, and at this location they had samples to try (and buy).  IMO the best was the one mixed with coconut thread.

The other product they were producing at this particular stop was a Palm Wine.  I didn’t try this, but from all accounts its a pretty feisty wee brew.  In some of photos further down the page, you can see the distillation process.

This electrical wiring was hooked up to solar panels to run the lighting.

Packaging of the jaggery into small bags.  Note the candle used to seal the bags closed.

You may also like to check out my previous posts about Myanmar.