Fruity, fresh and full of summer – yes, we’ve ticked all the boxes for August’s club gin! It is distilled with kiwi fruit and Cambodian rambutan fruit and this tropical delight is balanced with kampot pepper – also from Cambodia. We were lucky enough for Director Phil’s travels, along with his daughter Poppy, to inspire this Innovations creation.
The Cambodian Adventure
Read along as Poppy sets the scene on her Southeast Asian adventure…
Poppy says…
“My Dad and I embarked on a ten day Cambodian adventure in early June 2024. As well as celebrating the end of my Uni days, it gave my Dad the opportunity to show me a backpacking style holiday. I documented the trip in a little notebook that I carried around in my bum-bag. So, for the release of the Songsaa Gin, I thought it would be cool to share some of the stories from our trip to Cambodia, where there was a surplus of exciting food, drink and experiences.”
As we’ve already mention, we were lucky enough for Phil and Poppy to pick up some of the authentic ingredients for this month’s gin. It’s no secret that our vast travelling has inspired many a Batch recipe with Thai, Vietnamese, Indian and Chinese recipes – to name a few – under our belt. Ryan jumped at the chance of using kampot pepper, an unusual pepper due to its aromatic herbal and citrus notes, and so Poppy tells us why she brought it home.
Good things come to those who wait
The best meal of the trip, that Dad and I both agree on, has to be the little restaurant we went to in Siam Reap on the 4th day of our travels. It was the first night we experienced the consequences of going to Cambodia in the rainy season. Sitting in a small, beautifully decorated bar, our pre-dinner cocktails were interrupted by an incredibly loud rumble, and assumed that someone upstairs was rearranging furniture. However our assumption was proved wrong when we saw a flash of lightning. It was so interesting to experience a thunderstorm without the rain! Although the rain did come later…
After the excitement of the storm and the consumption of the cocktails, our appetites were suitably whetted for a lovely meal. Nestled next to the bar was a small restaurant, run by a small, older lady on her own. We perused the menu as she gave us some cans of Cambodian Lager and ordered a selection of dishes to try. As we were waiting for our food, a group of Australians walked in also looking for grub. Due to the size of the restaurant, they had to push some tables together to fit them all in. So, we moved to a smaller table to make this task easier for them. They began speaking to us about how they were worried about how long they would have to wait for food, as it was just the one lady running the place. We attempted to calm their nerves by saying she had been very quick in serving us, but they were out the door almost as quickly as they came in. The lady was very eager for them to stay and seemed very disappointed when they left anyway.
Almost immediately as they walked out our food was ready. We tried the traditional dish of Cambodia, called Beef Lok Lak, which came with fresh Kampot pepper. It was our first time trying this dish, and it was amazing. Such fragrant flavours and tender beef and the Kampot pepper was the star component that brought it all together. We tried a few other dishes, such as the Fish curry and a noodle soup, with a few more beers for good measure. As we were finishing our delicious spread, the lady came over to say how disappointed she was that the big group left, as she had cooked for 20 people before, so was perfectly happy to cook for them. We said how amazing the food was and how they had missed out. As we journeyed back to our hostel, we ended up walking past a bar filled with the Australian crew. We were tempted to go and tell them how good it was and that they should go back. However, through the window we could see them digging into their quicker, but I imagine less delicious meal. More fool them! This was the same evening we ended up having quite a lot of red wine (served chilled due to the heat) and singing karaoke with the locals.
Kampot pepper in Kampot
A few days and a horrendous sleeper coach later, we ended up in Kampot, which is in the Southern region of Cambodia. It was nice to be near some water, as the city had been so humid. Here we were able to try lots of types of Kampot pepper, where in one restaurant we were given a mortar and pestle to grind our own selection of white, red and black Kampot pepper. One particular dish, I found really exciting was the vanilla and red Kampot pepper ice cream, which was delicious! This was to finish off a scrumptious meal we had in a hotel that used to be an old cinema, filled with lots of cool artwork. We also tried the local Cambodian Gin, as I admired a particular piece that had a lot of dogs. Fun fact about Cambodia – the dogs are very well-treated and well-fed, which was perfectly captured in this piece of art, which now hangs on my bedroom wall. Thanks for the birthday gift Dad!
A beautiful country with incredible food, drink and culture, perfectly encapsulated by the Songsaa Gin.
Ryan says
“I had already started looking at Cambodian botanicals, even before Phil went on holiday. I love discovering new ingredients to get creative with and the candied notes on the nose from the kiwi and rambutan fruits I distilled with, are delicious. It’s not as sweet when you actually try it as a drink because the kampot pepper cuts through the sweet flavours. A brand new recipe for August was a much welcome challenge; from researching Cambodian flavours, to discovering tropical fruits I’d never even heard of, I’ve found a new set of botanicals that will definitely feature in future recipes”
The Artwork
The label for Songsaa Gin was created by Bodie who was very happy to be working on our Cambodian inspired spirit! Bodie even came up with the name for this gin. He says…
“I have used references to Angkor Wat and the Romduol Flower and given it the style of a 1960’s Cambodian Film Poster/Rock N Roll Single, that are all cutup collage-like!”
“Songsaa means the Sweethearts and it is a commonly used Cambodian phrase. I thought it dead cute that this is used instead of boyfriend and girlfriend.”
Perfect Serve
Fancy trying this month’s tipple? Here’s how we recommend you serve it…
Fill a tall glass with ice. Add 50ml Songsaa Gin and top with FeverTree White Grape and Apricot Soda. Garnish with a wedge of lime.
Or shake up the cocktail below…
Rambutan Sparkler
