Rice wine fermented in a clay jar and drunk communally through long bamboo straws. Upland communities brew it and open the jar at ceremonies; water is topped up as it is drunk and guests take turns at the straws.
Producing alcohol at home is licensed or restricted in most of the atlas’s readership, and the ferment depends on a starter cake carrying a specific local set of moulds and yeasts.
What goes into it
- rice or other grain, often with husk
- a starter cake of moulds and yeasts
- rice husk
- water
How it is made
Cooked grain is mixed with a crushed starter cake and rice husk, which keeps the mass open, and packed into a large clay jar sealed with leaves and clay. It ferments for weeks to months. To drink it, water is poured in through the neck and drawn out through bamboo straws set into the jar; the jar is refilled as the level drops.
How long it takes: several weeks to months in the sealed jar
How it is eaten
Through bamboo straws from the shared jar at weddings, festivals and to welcome guests.
History
Brewed by upland communities and opened at ceremonies; water is topped up as the jar is drunk, and guests take turns at the straws.
Frequently asked questions
What is Lao Hai?
Lao Hai is a wine & spirit from Laos: rice wine fermented in a clay jar and drunk communally through bamboo straws. Brewed by upland communities and opened at ceremonies; water is topped up as the jar is drunk, and guests take turns at the straws.
How is Lao Hai made?
Cooked grain is mixed with a crushed starter cake and rice husk, which keeps the mass open, and packed into a large clay jar sealed with leaves and clay. It ferments for weeks to months. To drink it, water is poured in through the neck and drawn out through bamboo straws set into the jar; the jar is refilled as the level drops. It takes several weeks to months in the sealed jar.
Can I make Lao Hai at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. Producing alcohol at home is licensed or restricted in most of the atlas’s readership, and the ferment depends on a starter cake carrying a specific local set of moulds and yeasts.
What goes into Lao Hai?
Rice or other grain, often with husk, a starter cake of moulds and yeasts, rice husk, water.
How is Lao Hai eaten?
Through bamboo straws from the shared jar at weddings, festivals and to welcome guests.
