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Ed Peters

Across Asia, alcoholic drinks are taking on some very different flavours as women uncork new ideas and add a new spirit to bar menus.
Female distillers, bottlers, bar owners and bartenders are helping change the fortunes of an industry that once frowned on women drinking in public, let alone making drinks.
“It’s not so much a sudden change, as a light being shone on women’s role in the industry as people become more aware,” says Holly Graham, former food and drink editor of Time Out Hong Kong and Asia Ambassador for lifestyle brand Earn Your Booze.
“Women are innately good at tending bar and add some much-needed diversity right the way through the industry, which is all the better for it.”

A prime example of the new wave, Renu Sinpho runs Aqua (temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic) at the Anantara Siam Hotel in central Bangkok, and has her eyes trained firmly on the future.
“When I started at the age of 20, there weren’t so many female mixologists around in Thailand,” she says. “We’re seeing more nowadays, in local watering holes, in fancy speakeasies, and in some of Asia’s 50 Best Bars, but there are still not enough if you ask me.”
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As soon as Sinpho had her first glimpse of cocktail making, otherwise known as mixology, she felt she had to sign up for a bartending course at the Thai capital’s Dusit Thani College. Two decades later, she is still enthralled.
“I was fascinated by the artistry behind it, and I wanted to live in a world where I could create drinkable art,” says Sinpho. “Nowadays I specialise in interactive modern cocktails. Take Aqua Fabulicious, which I dreamed up myself.
“It’s a blend of Hendrick’s Gin, elderflower liqueur, citric acid, cherry blossom syrup, rose lemonade, cucumber bitters and aquafaba. It’s a great way to kick off the evening, and I love the way it’s just so delicate.”
What’s next for Sinpho? “Down the track, I want to produce my own liquor brand, based on the exotic flavours in nature that I experienced as a child.”

Eiling Lim’s whisky epiphany – her very first taste of a 25-year-old single malt – happened when she was 25 years old. Egged on by enthusiastic friends in a Chinese restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Lim tried a dram of Port Ellen whisky from Islay in Scotland.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that whisky changed my life – I even met my husband, Luc, because of whisky, as he is in the business,” says Lim, the only female independent whisky bottler in Malaysia.
Working as an independent, Lim chooses casks – usually from Scottish distilleries or whisky brokers – and then has them bottled under her own brand or name.
My passion is tasting whisky and I also do that for fun … However, when it comes to business, you have to remember the fun part might be taken away because there are … bills to pay, expectations to meet and orders to fulfil
Eiling Lim, Malaysia’s only female independent whisky bottler
“We don’t have the resources to advertise or run big promotions, but I’ve found that many whisky enthusiasts will search high and low for an interesting indie bottling even if it means having to buy it through auctions or overseas,” Lim says.
“I’m now aiming to change the whisky scene in Malaysia by taking it beyond a market that’s dominated by the big names.”
Apart from having to face off against the major distillers, Lim initially had another hurdle to overcome.
“Many people were sceptical of my offerings because I’m a woman and it’s thought women don’t really like whisky,” she says. “But having done so many bottlings, I now have a number of regulars who will buy every release from me without tasting it beforehand or needing to know the price.
“Whatever you do, it is very important to do it with passion. My passion is tasting whisky and I also do that for fun because it is interesting and I continue to learn. However, when it comes to business, you have to remember the fun part might be taken away because there are rules to follow, bills to pay, expectations to meet and orders to fulfil.
“Mine is a niche business, but I’m happy with it, and you can’t say better than that.”

Owning a bar was never really one of Eaint Thiri Thu’s life goals, but she concedes that now she could not be prouder of Father’s Office, the bar in downtown Yangon, Myanmar, that she runs with her business partner Nang Du Hom.
“It was Hom who initially bought the bar. I didn’t get involved until about four months later,” says Thu. “I’d been to Father’s Office and loved the name – it’s in honour of the father of [Burmese] independence, General Aung San – and the locale, so when I was approached [to get involved] I just thought ‘Why not?’”
Undaunted by her lack of experience, Thu jumped into her new role.
“I’d never really done anything like this before, although when I was a teenager my parents ran a small street restaurant, so I grew up helping them as a waitress,” she says. “My background is journalism and research, mostly related to conflicts, but that actually came in quite useful. One of the first things we did was introduce more ethnic foods to the bar menu to balance out things like fish and chips.
“I’d visited northern Shan State in the course of my work, and Hom was born there. So we source most of our raw products directly from villages there as a way of helping the livelihood of people in conflict-torn areas. We now serve Shan, Kachin and Wa ethnic food, as well as Western dishes.”
I realised I wanted to … establish Hong Kong’s first gin distillery. It’s really the perfect blend of science and creativity, and what makes it exciting is giving it our own interpretation
Dimple Yuen, co-founder of Two Moons Distillery in Chai Wan, which is Hong Kong’s first gin distillery
Father’s Office has taken on an alternative vibe under its new owners. “Of course, our bartender whips up some pretty creative cocktails, but what is more special is that we name some of them after our regular customers if they wish,” Thu says. “And I also make customised cocktail glasses for customers using my calligraphy and drawings.
“Father’s Office is pretty small, but we’ve tried to make it nostalgic and homey yet vibrant at the same time. We let customers choose the [music] playlist, so depending on their mood the vibe can be quite different.”
Dimple Yuen ditched a regular office job to distil a gin with flavours of Hong Kong.
“I used to be a programmer at a start-up, but my love for gin inspired me to make a career switch,” Yuen says. “It’s my all-time favourite spirit, and when we were starting out, my co-founder Ivan Chang and I used to infuse our own ingredients to experiment with interesting flavours.”
Soon Yuen was digging deeper into the science of distilling.

“I then realised I wanted to go for it full time and establish Hong Kong’s first gin distillery. It’s really the perfect blend of science and creativity, and what makes it exciting is giving it our own interpretation of what Hong Kong gins should taste like.”
A study tour in Britain and getting a diploma from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in London preceded the formal establishment of Two Moons Distillery in Chai Wan last September.
“I’ve been fortunate – my experience so far has been really great and I haven’t been boxed into any gender stereotypes,” Yuen says. “As the first woman distiller from Hong Kong, I feel that may even be an advantage, as people often find my story memorable.”



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Food and Drinks

Bartender, distiller, whisky bottler – women in Asia changing the face of drinks industry

Eiling Lim buys cask whisky and bottles it under her own brand. She is an example of the Asian women who have moved into the drinks industry and are making their mark. Photo: courtesy Eiling Lim

Handout image shows Renu Sinpho who runs Aqua at the Anantara Siam Hotel in central Bangkok.[16JUNE2020 FEATURE]CREDIT: COURESY DIMPLE YUEN

Handout image shows Eiling Lim who is now MalaysiaÕs only female independent whisky bottler and Husband Luci n Malaysia.  [16JUNE2020 FEATURE]CREDIT: COURESY Eiling Lim

Two Moons Distillery Signature Dry Gin.

Dimple Yuen is co-founder of Two Moons Distillery in Chai Wan, which is Hong Kong’s first gin distillery. Yuen is just one of a number of women making a name for themselves in Asia’s drinks industry. Photo: Two Moons

Moonkok, a bar from Hong Kong craft brewery Moonzen, draws inspiration from a traditional teahouse and temple

The Moonkok bar in Mong Kok was inspired by traditional teahouses and Chinese temples. Photo: SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

A new bar / brewery MoonKok designed with Chinese characteristics, 8 Shantung Street, Mong Kong, Hong Kong on June 02, 2020. 02JUN20 [07JUNE2020 DESIGN POST MAGAZINE] SCMP Xiaomei CHEN

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Moonzen founder Laszlo Raphael. Photo: Handout

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Lagavulin distillery on the Isle of Islay, one of the island's three distilleries that is stilll producing whisky along with Ardbeg and Laphroaig. Images and captions taken from the book La Magie du Whisky. (Photo by David Lefranc/Kipa/Sygma via Getty Images)[31MAY2020 WINE POST MAGAZINE]CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

Lifestyle

Food & Drink


Renu Sinpho at Aqua in Bangkok was fascinated by the artistry of cocktails; Eint Thiri Thu had a drink at a bar in Yangon, and was invited to become a partner
Whether through chance or driven by personal interest, these four Asian women entered the drinks industry and have forged their own paths



A head bartender creating cocktails in Bangkok, a gin distiller in Hong Kong, Malaysia’s only female whisky bottler – women in Asia are making their mark in a man’s world.
