BEHIND THE SPIRIT
FERMENTATION & DISTILLATION
Three feedstocks, three fermentation paths, one still. Here's exactly how rice, sugarcane, and longan become spirit at Choeng Doi.
SHARED EQUIPMENT
HERO PHOTO — STILL ROOM OR FERMENTATION HALL, WIDE SHOT
Every spirit we make, rice, sugarcane, or longan, passes through the same hybrid still. The reflux column is adjustable, so the same equipment can run as a simple pot still or with up to six plates of reflux depending on what a given batch calls for.
The Still
FROM THE PRODUCTION LOG
STILL PHOTO — FULL STILL, ON-SITE, SHOWING POT AND COLUMN
STILL SCHEMATIC — LABELED POT, COLUMN PLATES, CHARGE POINTS AND COLLECTION TANKSHARED EQUIPMENT
CONFIGURATION
Pot still + adjustable reflux column
TOTAL CAPACITY
600L
MAX FILL
500L
COLUMN PLATES
Adjustable, 2 to 6
2ND DISTILLATION CHARGE
35% ABV
ABV logged every 15 minutes through a full pot run, heads to tails. This is exactly how a cut actually gets made: by watching the curve, not by hitting a fixed number.
A Real Distillation Curve
TASTED: SWEET · SUGARCANE · BANANA · BAKED APPLE, CINNAMON · DOK NOM MAEW FLOWER · OLIVE BRINE
This run's hearts cut ran from 74.4% ABV down to 57.3% ABV, roughly 5.5 hours on the still. Cut points aren't fixed to a number, they're made by tasting and smelling the distillate as it comes off, which is why the exact ABV at each cut varies run to run.
HEADS · DISCARDED HEARTS · KEPT FOR BLEND TAILS · DISCARDED
Rice
FEEDSTOCK
Khao Niew Sanpatong, estate-grown
SUGARCANE PHOTO — ESTATE CANE, HARVEST OR PRESS
Sugarcane
Estate & partner-farm sugarcane
LONGAN PHOTO — FRUIT, WHOLE OR HALVED
Fruit — Longan
Longan
FERMENT VESSEL
Closed, food-grade IBC, 1000L
1000L IBC (cool weather) or temp-controlled 400L stainless steel
1000L IBC, with ice for temperature control
SUGAR PREP
Alpha & beta amylase enzyme blend
Direct sugar, no conversion needed
Direct sugar, no conversion needed
YEAST
Commercial, grain-specific
Lallemand RM (Blanc); wild, per-farm for Single Estate (2025–26 onward)
Mangrove Jack's M05 Mead Yeast, 95–100% attenuation
MONITORING
Not tracked by pH
Continuous gravity/temp (RAPT Pill); manual pH through first 48h
Manufacturer temp range: 15–30°C
DURATION
10–14 days
7–10 days typical (up to 37 recorded); wild yeast up to 38 days
5–7 days
DISTILLATION
Double: pot, then reflux column. 2nd run charged at 35% ABV
Double: pot, then second pot run. 2nd run charged at 35% ABV
Single pot-still run only
CUTS
Not yet documented
Heads/hearts ~74–79% ABV (pot) or ~83% (column); hearts/tails ~47–66% ABV, sensory-guided
Not documented
FILTRATION
Coconut carbon (SONKLIN only)
None
None
PROCESS
RICE PHOTO — KHAO NIEW SANPATONG, FIELD OR GRAIN
CUTS PHOTO STRIP — HEADS / HEARTS / TAILS SAMPLES FROM ONE RUN
FURTHER READING
Why pH Matters in Sugarcane Fermentation →
Why Fermentations Get Stuck: Lessons from a Rhum Distillery →
