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Phu Le Rice in Ben Tre – MEKONG ECO TOUR

Phu Le Rice Wine Factory

456 HL14, Phu Thanh, Phu Le Hamlet, Ba Tri District, Ben Tre

 

A trip to Ba Tri is not complete without sampling a local delicacy with justified national notoriety. The intensely potent sticky rice wine made at the Phu Le distillery is a force to be reckoned with.

Master Distiller Mrs. Loan will happily demonstrate her craft, chattering away as she simmers huge vats of sticky rice and water over bamboo kilns, before slowly distilling the alcohol through a huge vat of cold water.

It’s a painstaking process that she undertakes largely on her own, but with generations of distillers behind her she is happy to continue the family tradition.

With an average output of around 40 litres a week it’s hardly an industrial operation, but her large tubs of high-power liquor supply bars and restaurants for miles around. At around 50 percent ABV, calling this stuff ”wine” is a heinous misnomer, but with such a unique taste there really isn’t an easy alternative English equivalent. Its strong flavour is overpowering at first but after becomes surprisingly drinkable afterwards; provided it is suitably mixed. Locals advise coconut water and lime, I went with coca cola, purely out of convenience.