GET TIPSY ON: LAODI RHUM

Ever since the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean" was released rum has become our favorite alcohol. Ok, we don't discriminate on any alcohol (except for you Mr. Wine Cooler!), but rum is really freaking good. We have always associated rum with tropical islands and what we didn't know is that you can find an exceptional rum in Laos. Rum is made from sugar cane, and Laos is covered with sugar cane fields, which makes this country a perfect environment for rum production. On our recent trip to Luang Prabang, the UNESCO heritage village, we tried LAODI, a rum made in Laos by a Japanese man.

According to their website, what makes LAODI rum special is the fresh water from the Mekong river, which irrigates the land where their sugar cane grows. Only 3% of rum production comes from pure sugar cane, which makes LAODI a very small distillery with a unique taste. They also claim that because unlike other commercial rum, which is made with molasses, their rum won't give you a nasty hangover, which we have, um... thoroughly tested and can confirm is true. 

We first learned of LAODI rum at the Luang Prabang night market, where you can have a free tasting. The sales lady kept pouring generous shots of every rum and we left buying two of their classic bottles of rum: BROWN and WHITE. Our favorite, however was their COCONUT flavored rum. It is tasty just to sip on and you can imagine that it would the best liquor to add to any "beach/summer" inspired cocktail with pineapple or milk. Other flavors of infused rum include: passionfruit, sugarcane, coffee and plum.

Although Laos is a very beautiful, laid back country with a unique culture and some of the best foods we have tasted, if that doesn't get you excited, just know that LAODI rum is reason enough to visit.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to go to the distillery, but we have heard that the tour is great. If you are in the area here, is the address:

Lao Agro Organic Industries Limited

47kms of the National Road No. 13

Naxone Village, Pak Ngum District, Vientiane Capital, Laos

Tel: +856 20 2829 8789 / +856 20 5233 9920

Mail: info@rhumlaodi.com

GPS: 18°04’28.8″N 102°58’01.0″E

www.facebook.com/rhumlaodi

GET TIPSY ON: LAO RICE WINE

One of the biggest struggles for us backpackers, is that you can't buy any cool handcrafted souvenirs to bring home with you. Our backpacks always seem to be too small and too damn heavy. But we have a solution for all y'all. Look for portable and consumable souvenirs like... alcohol!

On our recent trip to Luang Prabang in Laos, we went to the night market and found some awesome rice wine sold by a local lady. She was sitting on a floor matt between other vendors, who were selling the typical tourist tchotchkes like t-shirts, statues and clothes, which we don't care for too much. She made us an offer we couldn't refuse; a free tasting. We tried a couple bottles of different wines and we decided to purchase a small bottle of the most mild flavored fermented rice wine.

The taste was unique and it reminded us of the health drink called kombucha. If you love kombucha you will like this wine. Naturally, rice wine tastes excellent with asian food. We got a bowl of spicy noodle soup and drank the wine with it. It was delicious! 

This rice wine was easy to drink. It is alway dangerous when alcohol tastes like juice because it's hard to know when to stop! If you're ever in Luang Prabang give it a try and you won't regret it.

Cheers!