Spirits of the Land

Step aside, soju and sake: Asia has so much more to offer in terms of native alcoholic beverages. We explore some of the most beguiling brands and the young upstarts looking to remake their image for a modern breed of drinker

- Gavin Yeung

Asia is nothing if not diverse, a fact that is readily reflected in the panoply of alcoholic beverages both fermented and distilled that have arisen as a result of the variety of terrains, climates, cultures, and culinary customs of its many regions.

Indeed, the impact of Asia on the development of modern alcohol as we know it today can hardly be underestimated: it was in British India that the gin and tonic was invented, as both an antidote to the oppressive tropical climate as well as the constant threat of malaria (thanks to the presence of quinine in tonic water), which quickly spread to other Crown possessions across the world. Meanwhile, Batavia arrack, a distilled spirit originating from the Indonesian island of Java, is often cited as an influential forerunner to rum.

Among the hundreds of native alcohol varieties that can be found across the Asian continent, a handful have reached international acclaim: soju can dependably be found at Korean barbecue restaurants around the globe; Chinese baijiu, renowned for its fiery composition, ranks as the most consumed spirit in the world; and sake has inspired a massive following rivalling that of wine.

Yet for every mention of these household names, there are dozens of Asian spirits that never fill cups outside the immediate vicinities of the towns and villages in which they are brewed. But that is changing rapidly: as a new wave of brewers and distillers across Asia unpack the rich drinking customs unique to their cultures, they are also refining the cottage industry of indigenous spirits into a number of sophisticated elixirs, with the hope of introducing the flavours of their cultural inheritance to a new breed of a drinker.