THE MEKONG
Known in Khmer as Tonlé Mékong, and sometimes simply Tonlé Thom - “The Great River,” the Mekong is the life-source of mainland Southeast Asia.
Flowing 2,703 miles from the Tibetan Plateau through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, the river has shaped landscapes, livelihoods, and cultures for centuries. Through generations of navigation and trade, it has become a living crossroads of traditions and flavors. At Seekers Spirits, we celebrate the richness of the Mekong through botanicals sourced from along its banks and through close partnerships with local farmers and producers who share our deep connection to the land.
THE BOTANICAL GARDEN
Beside the distillery at Seekers Spirit House grows the garden where our story starts.
Twenty-one botanicals and ten trees, from butterfly pea and pandan to tamarind and jackfruit, responsibly grown, harvested, and distilled a few steps away. Every plant in the garden carries a sign, and every sign opens its full spec sheet: how we grow it, how we care for it, and which spirits it ends up in.
EXPLORE THE GARDEN
NITROGEN: GIVERS AND TAKERS
Every plant in the garden is tagged either a nitrogen giver or a nitrogen taker.
The givers are legumes. Butterfly pea, yardlong bean and our tamarind tree carry bacteria in nodules on their roots, and those bacteria pull nitrogen out of the air and fix it into the soil. Pull up a bean at the end of a season and you can see the nodules, small pale lumps along the roots.
The takers are the hungry ones. Corn, banana, cassava and the leafy greens draw that nitrogen back out as they grow.
We plant them next to each other so the garden puts back some of what it uses, and we feed the rest with compost rather than bagged fertilizer. It is an old technique, not an invention of ours, and it works because of the bacteria rather than anything clever we do.
Sourcing with Meaning
Every spirit we make begins in the soil. Cambodia and the wider Mekong region sit on some of Southeast Asia’s most fertile ground - rich, expressive earth shaped by monsoon rains, river systems, and generations of farming knowledge.
We work directly with farmers who practice healthy farming systems, choosing ingredients grown with care for the land and the people who depend on it. Our sourcing is guided by a simple intention: to create flavour with purpose, and to leave places better than we found them. A recent example is our cashew apple brandy project, which transforms cashew apples - a bi-waste of Cambodia’s cashew nut harvest with traditionally no market value - into a distilled spirit of character and depth. By giving value to what was once discarded, we create new income streams for farmers, reduce waste, and turn overlooked fruit into something worth celebrating. This is sourcing with meaning - rooted in place, shaped by people, and driven by positive environmental and social impact.