1. Tapping: palm sap collected from felled or standing palms, or cane juice pressed fresh.
2. Fermentation: 2–5 days in large barrels, sometimes with yeast. Sap ferments fast in tropical heat.
3. Distillation: single-distilled in improvised barrel-and-copper-pipe stills; premium makers now use stainless steel + filtration.
4. Cut + proof: heads/tails cut, diluted to 40–45% for premium, up to 60%+ for traditional.
5. Rest + bottle: settled, filtered, sealed in labeled bottles with batch + FDA number.

Quality markers: clear spirit, clean nose (no solvent burn), labeled ABV, batch traceability.