Son Tinh: What Vietnam’s Craft Means To Us
The artisan term, which was once only used to describe the finest in tailored goods, now finds itself tagged on questionable items seeking to find a higher value market…but taking a step back from the trend, what exactly makes a product “craft” and why is the true meaning of craft so important to us?
According to Oxford Dictionary, craft is defined as “an activity involving skill in making things by hand. Made in a traditional or non-mechanized way by an individual or a small company.”
The products are created by using manufacturing methods from a pre-industrialized era, in small batches and with a stringent eye to detail and quality.
By this very definition, one could say that Vietnam has always been a country built on craft. Many small villages deep in the countryside have and still survive by tending to their own fields, making their own shelters, clothing and even alcohol. All of which are still largely done by hand.
It is in these traditional roots of craftsmanship that birthed the first bottle of Son Tinh Original Ruou, in the small village of Phu Loc in the Cam Giang district of Hai Duong province over twenty years ago (link). Now we are looking forward to keeping the traditions alive.
Revolutionizing Traditions. Can the Terms Be Mixed?
Coming from a world of mixologist, we have to say that if something goes great together, then we are determined to find a way to combine them. On the surface, it may seem that revolution and tradition are meant to contradict each other, but at Son Tinh we strongly feel that without innovation to help preserve history, many traditions will be lost in time.
Such as the tradition of Vietnamese rice liquor. As of now, the century old practice of distilling the sticky rice extract still has no set recipe. Often brewed in homes in the Vietnamese countryside, ingredients and their amounts vary from village to village. Recipes are only passed on through word of mouth, leaving little to no quality control. This leads to a bevy of concerns.
The Process of Crafting Vietnam In a Glass
“Picking the correct rice together with the yeast and a proper fermentation are the main factors for (Son Tinh’s) flavour.”
“For example, the skin around the rice is what really adds that extra fragrance and will determine the flavour. The skin around the rice is what’s used for distillation, it’s not the same kind that you eat.”
“Picking the correct rice together with the yeast and a proper fermentation are the main factors for (Son Tinh’s) flavour.” Says Markus Madeja, Son Tinh’s master distiller, in a recent interview with Hot Table Vietnam.
“For example, the skin around the rice is what really adds that extra fragrance and will determine the flavour. The skin around the rice is what’s used for distillation, it’s not the same kind that you eat.”
By hand-picking the proper yeast and sticky rice for each distillation run and merging them with a variety of Vietnamese ingredients -many of which can only be found in Vietnam- Markus has crafted twelve distinct flavours of Son Tinh, each with their own expressions, taste profiles and finishes.
Another concern which looms over homebrewed Vietnamese rice liquor is just how clean and well-measured village-made rice liquor can be. With little to no regulation what-so-ever, alcohol content, as well as ethanol and methanol content can vary wildly, which can be quite dangerous.
Consuming high concentrations of methanol, which is used mostly as an industrial solvent such as paint remover or antifreeze can lead to organ failure and blindness. All distilled alcohols will generate amounts of methanol, but regulated brands are tasked to remove the toxic methanol from their finished batches. For Vietnamese rice liquor, it was Markus who brought forth the necessary changes to his Vietnamese distilling team by driving them to remove the toxic chemicals.
At first, the villagers were quite surprised by the request, since doing so would waste almost half of their yield. Many of the villagers were none the wiser to methanol’s harmful effects, saying that the toxic runoff was some of the distillate’s best parts. Homebrewed rice liquor was essentially moonshine until Markus introduced a meticulous formula to clean up development. This final product is now what we proudly call Son Tinh Original Ruou.
Consuming high concentrations of methanol, which is used mostly as an industrial solvent such as paint remover or antifreeze can lead to organ failure and blindness. All distilled alcohols will generate amounts of methanol, but regulated brands are tasked to remove the toxic methanol from their finished batches. For Vietnamese rice liquor, it was Markus who brought forth the necessary changes to his Vietnamese distilling team by driving them to remove the toxic chemicals.
At first, the villagers were quite surprised by the request, since doing so would waste almost half of their yield. Many of the villagers were none the wiser to methanol’s harmful effects, saying that the toxic runoff was some of the distillate’s best parts. Homebrewed rice liquor was essentially moonshine until Markus introduced a meticulous formula to clean up development. This final product is now what we proudly call Son Tinh Original Ruou.
After spending years learning from the Vietnamese villagers on what makes a traditional rice liquor, Markus moved the production out of the village and into a modern facility where distillation could be monitored and measured. Son Tinh has, for the first time, modernized and regulated Vietnamese rice liquor, and in doing so created a cleaner and more fragrant alternative to a product that has always been wildly popular in Vietnam, yet until now, still had no established brand or formula.
We know, that in this modern age, customers demand excellence and are stepping away from goods which are mass produced with little to no quality control. Discerning consumers want products with heart and attention to detail that only handcrafted items can offer.
Soulless, big name retailers are giving way to smaller, unique brands who spend the appropriate amount of time to painstakingly work on creating the best products they can.
At Son Tinh, we take the philosophy of craft as seriously as we take our Ruou liquor. By hand-picking our ingredients and keeping a stringent eye on the quality of our distillation process. We ensure that the final product is of the finest quality before corking each and every bottle by hand.
From the beginning of every run at our distillery to the final pouring at your next event or party, every bottle of Son Tinh Original Ruou proudly embodies the very definition of what makes a product craft.