KUCHING: Meritin Hotel celebrated Sarawak’s heritage with a ‘tuak’ tasting session, where guests sampled a variety of locally made rice wines as part of the hotel’s effort to promote local culture and hospitality.
General Manager, Yvonne Saman, expressed delight at the turnout during the `tuak’ tasting session held last weekend, noting the enthusiastic response from both local and international guests.
“Everyone seems happy. They enjoyed the variety of ‘tuak’ flavours we served exclusively at Meritin.
“The ladies tended to prefer the sweeter ones, while the men liked the drier, stronger blends,” she told Sarawak Tribune in an interview recently.
The tasting session featured over a dozen flavours, including roselle, mulberry, pear, kiwi fruit, sugarcane, coconut, soursop, and passion fruit, each infused with distinctive local ingredients and character.
Yvonne shared that the roselle and passion fruit variants were among her favourites, describing the latter as “young” and reminiscent of wine due to its four-month fermentation period.
The event also attracted guests from Japan and the United Kingdom, who not only sampled the ‘tuak’ but purchased bottles to take home.
“I’m very happy because our international guests were eager to bring back a taste of Sarawak with them.
“Many were excited to find properly bottled ‘tuak’ they could check into their luggage,” Yvonne said, adding that demand has also been strong from visitors from West Malaysia and Singapore.
Each bottle featured during the tasting was sourced from local brewer, Begos Notay, of Kampung Segong, Singai, whose handcrafted ‘tuak’ has gained popularity for its diverse fruit infusions.
Explaining further, Yvonne said that Meritin Hotel plans to continue displaying and offering ‘tuak’ for sale, priced at RM50 for a 350ml bottle and RM90 for a 750ml bottle, to offer guests a truly Sarawakian experience.
“We hope tourists will come, taste, and bring back a bit of Sarawak with them,” she said.
Through initiatives like this, Meritin Hotel, located along Jalan Padungan, continues to blend hospitality with heritage, showcasing Sarawak’s warm culture one glass at a time.
