You wouldn’t immediately connect one of the earliest ingredients in cocktails to a photo-sharing app that now serves as the primary language of cocktail bars worldwide. But without bourbon, there might not have been Instagram – or at least, not the Instagram we know today. The Bourbon Drinker and the Bad Idea Long before filters and flat lays, Kevin Systrom was known among friends for two things: tinkering with side projects, and a genuine fondness for bourbon. Not in a conno

Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state , comprising over 17,000 different islands. As a region, it has a rich history of foreign influences, both as a colonized region and a trading hub. Combined with the rich tapestry of the different tribes, ethnicities, and religious beliefs throughout its many islands, Indonesia probably produces one of the most diverse varieties of spirits in Southeast Asia. While most of the drinks are palm and rice spirits typical of the

When we think of iconic alcoholic beverages from Thailand, beer is always at the forefront. However, in terms of spirit consumption, the majority of the market gravitates towards foreign liquors such as Scotch and brandy. Although there has been an emergence of native-born spirit brands in recent years, they tend to adopt the format of Western spirits, such as gin and rum. However, there is a small handful of spirits that are distinctively Thai, with roots deeply intertwined

Vietnam is one of the strongest agricultural powerhouses in Southeast Asia, with some of its commodity outputs ranking the country among the world's top ten. It's a remarkable feat, given that Vietnam was struggling to feed itself just a couple of decades back as a result of constant power struggles. Nurtured by the Mekong Delta and assisted by strong agricultural policies, rice became one of the country's biggest exports. Rice is a staple part of Vietnamese cuisine, used in

At any cocktail bar, the centerpiece is undoubtedly the bar counter: it defines the space as a 'bar' that serves booze. This long, elevated surface serves the purpose of not just serving drinks to customers (standing or sitting), but also a space for conversation between both sides of the counter. The bar counter seems so natural that it’s easy to assume it has always existed. In reality, it emerged in the 19th century alongside another important development in drinking cultu

There’s a persistent myth in Southeast Asia that “women didn’t really drink back then.” That cocktails are a modern invention. History says otherwise. If you leaf through newspapers, memoirs, advertisements, and society columns from interwar Malaya, you’ll find women drinking – sometimes discreetly, sometimes defiantly, often stylishly – as early as the 1920s. Not just sipping sherry in the corner, but attending cocktail parties, hosting pahit parties, and eventually being j

The Philippines is the home to some of the most diverse categories of alcoholic brew in Southeast Asia, partially due to the variety of cultures and people that inhabit the different islands of the country. Here, we can find rice wine typical of the region, known locally as tapuy (or tapuey ). Besides that, there is also basi, a type of sugarcane wine . One can also explore a unique brew named agkud here, a rice wine that is fermented alongside sugarcane juice and flavoured

There’s a strange thing that happens when you’ve spent enough time working in hospitality. You stop being a normal guest. You walk into a bar, café, or restaurant and before you’ve even sat down, your brain is already at work. You notice the lighting. You hear the playlist. You clock the flow of the room, the staff movement, where the side station is, how the space feels. You are consciously not trying to judge. You are just wired this way now. And that is usually where the p

It's hard to ignore the rise of nonalcoholic drinks popping up at bars. But these days, the term 'nonalcoholic' is evolving, or diversifying, if you will. Gone are the days when 'nonalcoholic' at a bar simply meant just juices or soda or some mocktail. These days, you may hear terms N/A, or nonalc, or spirit-free, and here are other terms that are redefining this whole category of beverages. Alcohol-free: A product that contains no detectable alcohol, which means it's 0.0% AB

For many people, a morning coffee or an afternoon green tea is part of daily life. But did you know these common caffeine-containing drinks may also support liver health, especially if you drink alcohol? Let’s break down the science in simple terms — what works, how it works, and where the evidence comes from. Why Your Liver Needs Support Alcohol puts stress on the liver because that’s where most alcohol is broken down. Over time, this can lead to inflammation, fat accumulati

Being in the bar, you see, hear, and experience all kinds of things. It exposes you to countless moments, conversations, and experiences. Some moments are funny, while others may be uncomfortable. I found it beautiful because it is very unpredictable and not repeated every day. The following anecdotes are drawn from observation and being present, not just in the bar I work in, but across other bars I’ve been to. Before engaging in a conversation, I’ve learned to understand th

For decades, the global cocktail canon has been framed around sweetness: sugar syrups, fruit juices, dessert-like pleasures dressed up with citrus and foam. Yet across Asia, the drinks that quietly make the most sense are not sweet at all. They are salty, briny, spiced, fermented, sometimes even broth-like. From pickles and preserved vegetables to soups, sauces, and seasoned beers, the palate logic is already there. These drinks don’t ask the drinker to “learn” alcohol throug

The festive season has a way of stretching drinking habits. Office parties blur into family gatherings, and “just for the holidays” quietly becomes daily alcohol intake. While most people worry about hangovers or weight gain, the liver is dealing with something more immediate: fat build-up caused by alcohol. Alcohol-related fatty liver disease is often silent. There’s no pain, no obvious warning signs — just fat accumulating in liver cells as alcohol metabolism blocks fat bur

The Latin word fervere , meaning "to boil or seethe," is the root of the English word "fermentation." Since the bubbling and foaming of early fermenting beverages resembled boiling, it was given this name. However, fermentation doesn't need heat like boiling does. It is a subdued chemical reaction, a metamorphosis that elevates simple sugars into something much more potent. So what is fermentation, really? Fermentation is a natural process where microbes like yeast, molds, an

Most people today would find the idea of chewing and spitting as the first step to making alcohol rather confronting — yet for millennia, this was one of humanity’s simplest and most effective brewing techniques. Chewing starch-rich foods like maize, cassava, or rice allows enzymes in saliva, especially amylase, to break down complex starches into simple sugars. Yeast cannot ferment starch directly, but it can ferment sugar. Before malted grains and mold starters (like Japan