Sombai (from km, សំុបៃ – "some rice, please") is a liqueur manufacturer in

Siem Reap Siem Reap ( km, សៀមរាប, ) is the second-largest city of Cambodia, as well as the capital and largest city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia. Siem Reap has French colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old F ...

founded in 2012. Its beverages have become a national drink of

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

and symbolic of

. Sombai is one of the most popular brands in Cambodia.

Products

The Sombai liqueurs were created in 2012 initially from

rice wine Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage fermented and distilled from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch that has been converted to sugars. Microbes are the so ...

by the Mauritian Joëlle Jean-Louis and her husband Lionel Maitrepierre drawing inspiration from the Cambodian traditional infused rice wine ''sraa tram'' ( km, ស្រាត្រាំ). The Sombai bottles are hand-painted. There are 8 different flavours which are always a combination of 2 fruits or spices. It is usually consumed either

neat Neat may refer to: * Neat (bartending), a single, unmixed liquor served in a rocks glass * Neat, an old term for horned oxen * Neat Records, a British record label * Neuroevolution of augmenting topologies (NEAT), a genetic algorithm (GA) for the ...

on the rocks Various unique terminology is used in bartending. Definitions and usage Straight, up, and straight up In bartending, the terms "straight up" and "up" ordinarily refer to an alcoholic drink that is shaken or stirred with ice and then strained ...

. Sombai infused rice wines is also an ingredient in several Cambodian cocktails such as Asana Sling, Lemon Lemongrass Tini, Sombai Blue, Sombai Fizz, Siem Reap Monsoon, and Sombai Sour. Several leading establishments in Siem Reap sell Sombai rice wine and its cocktails and use it in their cooking, such as Chef Pola Siv at Mie Café and the Park Hyatt.

Production workshop

In 2014 a Sombai workshop and tasting parlour was set up in the artist's Leang Seckon's house, and has become a tourist attraction in town. It also sells products from the sister brand ''Joe's Cuisine'' ( speciality foods, like spices or alcoholic jams) and ''Joe's Kampot Pepper Liqueur''.

In popular culture

Sombai-based cocktails are sold in a trendy bar in Washington DC in ''Backup Man'', a science fiction novel written by

Paul Di Filippo Paul Di Filippo (born October 29, 1954) is an American science fiction writer. He is a regular reviewer for print magazines ''Asimov's Science Fiction'', ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', ''Science Fiction Eye'', ''The New York Re ...

taking place in the 2050s: ''Particulate-filtering airfish drifting gently through the biolit dimness; imene tuki and Karelian rune singing on the sound system; sombai cocktails at twenty NUbucks a pop.''

References

External links

{{Commonscat
Official Sombai website
Liqueurs Cambodian brands Food and drink companies of Cambodia