The 33-Year-Old Reinventing Malaysia's Ancient Rice Wine for City Drinkers
An old village drink is now a $25 craft trend — and a culture clash.
Tuak is a traditional rice wine made by the Dayak communities of Sarawak on Malaysian Borneo. For centuries, families brewed it in longhouses for the Gawai harvest festival. Raffly Langi, now 33, learned the recipe from his aunt, who made tuak from steamed glutinous rice and a homemade yeast cake called ragi. She served it plainly from a jar, without fancy branding or flavoring.
Raffly has brought that family recipe to the Klang Valley, the urban area around Kuala Lumpur. His brand, Tuak Alus, offers modern versions with pandan, pineapple, and roselle. Traditional tuak comes in sweet "female" and dry "male" styles. Now the drink is being sold at city pop-ups with tasting flights and premium bottles. A simple bottle in Sarawak still costs around US$5 to US$7.50, but urban versions can go for US$25 or more.
This shift is about more than money. It raises a real question: how much can a cultural drink change before losing its meaning? As tuak leaves the longhouse and reaches new drinkers, brewers want to respect tradition while making a product that sells. For consumers, it means a taste of indigenous heritage, but also a reminder that food traditions are alive — and always evolving.
- Tuak is a traditional rice wine from Sarawak, brewed by Dayak families for the Gawai harvest festival.
- Young brewer Raffly Langi sells it in Kuala Lumpur under the brand Tuak Alus, with flavors like pandan, pineapple, and roselle.
- The same drink sells for about US$5 in a village bottle but can cost US$25 or more as a premium city product.
Why It Matters
It shows how ancient food traditions can become modern business opportunities — and what gets lost in the process.