Drinking Traditions of Brunei: 5 Beverages from Borneo Heritage

Brunei is a conservative, majority-Muslim sultanate where the sale of alcohol is banned and public consumption is illegal. Non-Muslim visitors and residents may bring in limited sealed quantities for private use after declaring them at customs. This shapes a discreet drinking culture centered on family settings and historical memory rather than bars or shops in Bandar Seri Begawan.

Before Islamization and modern regulations, communities across northern Borneo developed fermented drinks from glutinous rice and palm sap, informed by a humid equatorial climate, mangrove estuaries, and small rice plots. Today, those traditions persist mainly as heritage—discussed, remembered, or practiced privately—while fresh, unfermented sap and lightly fermented foods remain part of local taste.

Tuak is a rice wine rooted in the longhouse cultures of Borneo, including Dusun and Iban communities whose kin also live within Brunei’s borders. It is typically made from steamed glutinous rice inoculated with a ragi starter (a blend of yeasts and molds), then sealed in jars to ferment for weeks or months; some makers add palm sugar or honey to encourage a lively fermentation. The result ranges from semi-sweet to dry with a lactic tang, light floral notes, and gentle funk—think young sake meets tropical fruit—running about 5–12% ABV, though extended fermentation can push it higher. Historically, tuak accompanied harvest thanks, weddings, and guest-welcoming rituals across northern Borneo; in modern Brunei, production and sale are prohibited, so it survives—where it does at all—in private settings among non-Muslim families and as a remembered practice discussed at cultural gatherings. Travelers should not expect to find tuak in shops or restaurants in Bandar Seri Begawan; when encountered, it is usually through personal connections, family ceremonies, or during cross-border visits to Malaysian Borneo, where festivals openly feature it.

Bahar refers to the lightly fermented sap of the nipah palm (Nypa fruticans), a mangrove species thriving in estuaries around Brunei Bay. Tappers slice the palm’s inflorescence and collect the flowing sap in bamboo or plastic containers; within hours in the tropical heat, wild yeasts begin to fizz, nudging the liquid from sweet nectar toward a 1–4% ABV toddy. When very fresh, it tastes like coconut water laced with sugarcane and green banana; with time, it turns bready, tangy, and softly effervescent, and if left longer can edge toward vinegar. Historically, coastal fishers and boatmen drank fresh sap as a daily refreshment and let some ferment into a mild toddy shared in villages; distilling it into stronger arak existed regionally but is illegal in Brunei today. Because alcohol sale is banned, you won’t see bahar offered commercially; fresh, same-day sap—kept non-alcoholic by rapid consumption or chilling—may still be enjoyed in private homes, while the fermented version remains part of oral history and family practice rather than public trade.

Tapai is a semi-solid fermentation of glutinous rice (or occasionally cassava) prepared with ragi and wrapped in leaves or kept in jars for a few days. It is cherished across Malay and Dusun households for its perfumed sweetness, yogurt-like tang, and aromas of pandan and ripe pineapple; the juices seep out as a fragrant syrup that can be sipped. If fermentation is prolonged or tapped off, that liquid becomes a cloudy rice wine in the 3–8% ABV range, though most Bruneian families prefer to stop early so tapai remains a dessert rather than an intoxicant. Texture can range from pearly grains to pudding-like, and the flavor sits somewhere between fresh sake lees and tropical fruit salad. Tapai appears at family feasts and life-cycle events, reflecting a climate where fermentation both preserves and enhances staple starches, but in Brunei it is typically enjoyed in a low-alcohol form at home. As with other alcoholic products, public sale of tapai as a drink is not permitted, and households treat it as food, with fermentation carefully managed to keep it gentle.

Langkau is the potent rice spirit traditionally distilled from rice wine by Iban communities across Borneo; its heritage touches families living near Brunei’s borders and within its interior districts. Makers fashion simple pot stills—metal drums or clay pots heated over wood fires—with bamboo arms that condense a clear spirit dripping at 40–60% ABV. The character is clean and grain-forward with a grassy sweetness and occasional smoky notes from the fire, intended for ritual toasts, guest honorings, and night-long storytelling in longhouses. In contemporary Brunei, distillation and sale are illegal, so langkau occupies the realm of memory and discreet family lore; visitors more commonly encounter it in nearby Sarawak during public festivals such as Gawai, or in Miri, Malaysia, where it is openly discussed and sometimes sold by licensed vendors. For cultural understanding, it helps to know that langkau expresses the same rice-to-spirit arc found across Southeast Asia, distilling abundance into an emblem of hospitality—yet within Brunei, any such spirits, if present, remain strictly private.

Arrack—regional spirits distilled from molasses, palm sap, or rice—moved through northern Borneo’s ports during the 19th and early 20th centuries, when Brunei Town (now Bandar Seri Begawan) traded with Labuan and Sarawak. Styles varied: cane- and molasses-based arrack could be 30–45% ABV with peppery, estery aromas reminiscent of light rum, while rice-derived versions leaned softer and grainy. Colonial records and travelers’ notes describe its presence among sailors, traders, and shopkeepers, often mixed into punches. Modern Brunei bans the sale and public consumption of alcohol; however, non-Muslim adults entering the country may declare and bring in limited sealed quantities of alcohol for private use at home. In practice, that means you may encounter imported rum or arrack at private gatherings, not in restaurants or shops, and availability fluctuates with personal travel and customs rules. For a sense of the historic flavor profile, travelers often sample arrack-based drinks in neighboring Malaysian Borneo (for example in Miri, Malaysia) and then connect the dots to Brunei’s maritime trading past.