Two Balinese elders sit on a pandan (pandanus leaf) mat as they chat and drink tuak during a metuakan session. (JP/Wayan Sunarta)
On a sleepy afternoon in an equally sleepy village in Karangasem, a group of elderly men gathered at a small, roadside warung (stall) -- the local watering hole.
They sat in a circle on a battered pandan (pandanus leaf) mat and chatted intimately about life's small things, from the upcoming harvest to local politicians competing for the public's votes.
A man passed around the "liquid glue" that strengthened their bond -- an off-white and thick local liquor known as tuak. They then took turns sipping the liquor from a shared mug.
When they had exhausted the conversation, they began singing. Folk songs, drinking songs and made-up songs flowed from their lips as they tried to exhaust the warung's liquor stock. In the process, they sampled the spicy pork sate, the delicious lawar (shredded vegetables and minced meat) and fried nuts.
Metuakan, spending the evening with your pals having fun over a large quantity of tuak, is still one of the most favorite pastimes for Balinese men, particularly in the region of Karangasem, which also happens to be the island's largest producer of tuak and its much stronger cousin, arak.
Tuak is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented liquid tapped from the flowers of the jake (sugar palm, or Arenga pinnata), nyuh (coconut palm, or Cocos nucifera) or ental (lontar, or Borassus sp.).
Tuak jake is mostly produced in the Tenganan, Gumung and Bebandem areas, while tuak nyuh comes from Pikat, Pidpid and Gunaksa. Karangasem's arid regions of Merita, Culik, Tianyar and Kubu are the sources of the island's best tuak ental.
Tuak jake has the lowest level of alcohol while tuak ental has the highest. Generally speaking, tuak jake is the liquor of choice among the dedicated participants of metuakan.
To make the sweet liquid taste more savory, tuak makers add lau, which is a special ingredient made from powdered bark of the kutat tree and the tabia bun shrub.
Sekeha (groups) involved in metuakan can easily be found in Karangasem's rural areas. Each sekeha is usually comprised of up to five members, are from the same age-group and generally have been friends for years.
"In establishing a sekeha, we only invite close friends, whose characters and drinking habits are known to us. We will not invite drinkers with bad drinking habits, or those who love creating trouble when they are drunk," tuak-lover Made Kaler of Jungsri village said.
"We participate in 'metuakan' not to look for trouble, but to be with our friends and relax," he said.
With the country's general election just a few months away, politicians and political parties have began to look at metuakan and sekeha as prime targets for mobilization of public support.
Passionate members of political parties have started "infiltrating" sekeha, offering free tuak and, when the members of the sekeha get drunk, coaxing them to vote for certain candidates or political parties.
Not all sekeha, however, fall for this trick.
The metuakan tradition has given birth to two popular performing art forms; Genjek and Cakepung. Both art forms involve a large group of men drinking tuak and a singing repartee among selected members of the group.
Each sekeha tuak has its own drinking rules. Several general rules include the role of bandar and the use of one collective drinking mug.
The bandar is the man tasked with filling the drinking mug and distributing it to the members of the sekeha. The bandar is also the de facto moderator of every discussion taking place during the drinking session.
During the metuakan only one drinking mug is used. The participants are not allowed to bring their own mug or use a different drinking container other than the group's designated collective mug. Failure to do so is considered a grave breach of the group's camaraderie spirit.
Prior to the arrival of the modern glass or ceramic mug, sekeha tuak used drinking containers made of bamboo or coconut shells.
"Another general rule is that you should empty the mug in one mouthful. Drinking slowly is unacceptable behavior and the other members will surely mock you, saying you should drink coffee instead of tuak," another tuak lover, Ketut Gingsir of Ababi village, said.
In one evening of drinking, a sekeha can consume up to ten bottles of tuak. One bottle of tuak costs around Rp 1,500 (13 US cents).
An elder of Ababi village and tuak drinker, Made Adnyana, said ancient manuscripts on drinking had detailed the eight stages of behavior a participant of metuakan would enter during drinking.
"After one mug of tuak, the drinker will enter the 'Eka Padmasari' stage, characterized by a calm and silent behavior.
"Drinking two mugs is 'Dwi Angemertani', he will experience a feeling of satisfaction brought on by the drink," he said.
After drinking three mugs successively, he enters "Tri Raja Busana", and will act like a raja (king), ordering people around and taking off his shirt, because by that time he will be sweating profusely.
"Drinking four mugs takes one into 'Catur Kokila Basa' -- the drinker will act like a bird that cannot stop talking. Five mugs is 'Panca Wanara Konyer' where he will act like a restless monkey, and six mugs will make him 'Sad Wanara Rukam', a much calmer monkey," he said.
The seventh stage, "Sapta Ketoya Basa", is the most critical stage, as the drinker will become very sensitive and can easily be provoked into a heated debate or violent brawl.
"The last stage, after drinking eight mugs, is 'Asta Kebo Dangkal', where he will fall asleep and snore like a kebo (bull)," he added.
