Mekong Soda

Thailand's ubiquitous local highball combining Mekong whiskey with soda water and a squeeze of lime, found in bars and restaurants across the country.

Mekong is Thailand's most widely consumed spirit, produced since 1941 at the Bangyikhan Distillery in Bangkok, which was established by the Surathip Group under the ownership of Phraya Bhirom Bhakdi. Despite being marketed and legally classified in Thailand as a whisky, Mekong is distilled from a mash of approximately 95 percent sugarcane molasses and five percent rice, making its production process and raw material profile far closer to rum than to whisky as the term is understood in Scotland, Ireland, or the United States. It takes its name from the Mekong River, the 4,350-kilometer waterway that originates in the Tibetan Plateau and flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam before emptying into the South China Sea — one of mainland Southeast Asia's most significant geographical and cultural features. The distillery ages the spirit briefly in oak, which contributes the amber color and slight vanilla warmth that associate it visually with whisky. At roughly 35% ABV, Mekong is lighter than most Western whiskies and considerably lighter than most rums, which makes the Mekong Soda — spirit poured over ice and extended with soda water — the natural consumption format: approachable, refreshing, and easy to sustain through a long meal or evening. The format is universal in Thailand, served at street food stalls, seafood restaurants, hotel bars, and nightclubs with equal familiarity, the bucket-and-straw presentation typical at beach and festival venues.