NUAL by wasteland Bangkok: A Thai Craft Spirit Beyond the Familiar

Thailand's growing craft spirits industry has increasingly turned towards local ingredients, but creating a spirit that genuinely represents the country requires more than assembling a collection of familiar botanicals. For wasteland Bangkok, the challenge was to capture Thailand's culinary heritage, aromatic traditions and natural resources without resorting to the usual interpretations of Thai flavour. The result is NUAL, a sugarcane-based craft white spirit that draws on the foundations of gin while establishing an identity of its own.

Developed by wasteland and distilled by Inchon Distillery, Nual represents another chapter in the creative partnership between Kitibordee "Gov" Chortubtim and Dharath "Tot" Hoonchamlong. Following the first anniversary of wasteland's latest incarnation in August 2026, the team decided to introduce a product that would extend the bar's philosophy beyond its premises. Rather than relying on immediately recognisable ingredients to communicate its Thai identity, NUAL explores the country's less familiar botanicals, traditional culinary techniques and sustainable practices.

The story behind NUAL Thai craft spirit begins well before the spirit itself. wasteland originated in late 2019, when Tot, then working as an environmental manager at Bo.lan, began exploring opportunities to repurpose surplus ingredients and kitchen by-products. Gov, an experienced bartender with almost two decades behind the bar, shared his interest in experimentation. Their collaboration eventually developed into wasteland, which opened its original premises in 2020 before adapting its operations during the pandemic. After several years of collaborations, product development, consultancy and educational projects, wasteland returned with a new physical home in Bangkok.

The partnership brings together two complementary areas of expertise. Gov, wasteland's co-founder and beverage director, has spent almost two decades behind the bar, building his career around bartending, flavour development and experimentation. His curiosity has consistently pushed him beyond conventional cocktail techniques, particularly towards unfamiliar ingredients and the different ways they can be translated into drinks. That creative instinct is supported by a formidable competition record: he was the elit Vodka Art of Martini Thailand Champion in 2018, Diageo World Class Bartender Thailand Champion in 2019 and Dewar's Highball Challenge Thailand Champion in 2024. Rather than defining his career, these accolades provide another measure of the technical discipline behind his more exploratory work.

In 2022, Tot received international recognition when he was selected for the World's 50 Best organisation's 50 Next list in the Gamechanging Producers category. The recognition acknowledged his work in rethinking waste within the drinks industry and promoting more sustainable approaches to food and beverage production. His background includes a master's degree in Food Studies from New York University, alongside extensive work in environmental management and sustainability education.

Their shared philosophy has always involved looking beyond an ingredient's conventional purpose. What one kitchen might consider waste could become a valuable component in another recipe, while overlooked plants and traditional practices offer opportunities for further exploration. NUAL translates that philosophy into a bottled spirit, bringing together Gov's understanding of flavour and distillation with Tot's commitment to sustainability and responsible sourcing.

NUAL begins with a sugarcane-based alcohol and follows the foundations and distillation process of gin. However, a selection of botanicals and aromatic techniques shape its identity and distinguish it from conventional expressions of the category. Instead of relying exclusively on familiar gin botanicals, the team has explored ingredients connected to Thailand's culinary traditions, natural environment and cultural memory.

One of NUAL's most intriguing ingredients is cacao husk, a by-product of cacao processing that demonstrates wasteland's approach to sustainability. Rather than treating the husk as disposable, the team incorporates it into the spirit's botanical composition. Its inclusion reflects the principle that ingredients can retain considerable value beyond their primary culinary application.

Perhaps the most culturally distinctive element is the use of a traditional Thai candle, commonly associated with perfuming Thai desserts and other culinary preparations. The technique introduces a gently smoky, fragrant character that carries a particular sense of nostalgia for Thai drinkers. For international audiences unfamiliar with the practice, the resulting aroma offers an introduction to an aspect of Thai culinary heritage rarely encountered in spirits.

The candle is particularly interesting because its contribution is not simply another botanical flavour. It introduces an aromatic technique deeply connected to the country's food culture, allowing NUAL to communicate its origins through fragrance as much as taste.

Beyond its sugarcane foundation and traditional aromatic techniques, NUAL incorporates a selection of botanicals that contribute different dimensions to its character.

Among them is Chalude (Alyxia nitens Kerr), an aromatic plant associated with traditional Thai fragrance preparations. Its vanilla-like aroma and slightly menthol-like sensation introduce warmth and a subtle cooling quality, providing an interesting contrast within NUAL's botanical composition.

Jasmine contributes another familiar element of Thai aromatic culture. Its delicate floral perfume, gentle sweetness and subtle tea-like nuances introduce a softer dimension to the spirit. Rather than dominating the composition with an overtly floral character, jasmine provides an aromatic counterpoint to the other ingredients.

Niam leaf, a fragrant plant belonging to the Strobilanthes genus, introduces a different aromatic profile. Its sweet, green fragrance, reminiscent of pandan, adds depth alongside a softly cooling quality. Together with Chalude and jasmine, it demonstrates how traditional Thai aromatic ingredients can contribute to a contemporary distilled spirit.

The combination offers an interesting interpretation of Thai identity. Rather than focusing on the citrus, herbs, and spices often associated with Thai-inspired beverages, NUAL highlights ingredients and fragrances that have long existed in the country's culinary traditions but remain relatively unfamiliar to international drinkers.

These botanical descriptions reflect the ingredients' aromatic characteristics; their precise intensity and individual contributions within the finished distillate will depend on the production process.

While NUAL's production philosophy provides much of its story, its versatility becomes apparent when the spirit moves behind the bar. Its gin-inspired foundation allows it to be explored through established cocktail recipes, while its distinctive botanical composition offers bartenders opportunities to reinterpret familiar drinks.

The recommended serve combines NUAL with wasteland's craft bread flower soda. The simplicity of the combination puts the spirit's aromatic identity at the forefront, keeping its botanical character central to the drinking experience. It also reflects wasteland's broader approach to beverage development, in which carefully considered ingredients can create complexity without unnecessarily elaborate presentation.

The tasting continued with five cocktails: the Martini, Negroni, Hanky Panky, Corpse Reviver No. 2 and Red Snapper. Each provides a different framework through which to explore NUAL's potential.

The Martini offers perhaps the most straightforward examination of the spirit. With relatively few ingredients, the cocktail leaves little room for its principal component to hide. NUAL's floral, herbal and perfumed characteristics become particularly relevant in a preparation where the choice of spirit largely determines the drink's identity.

The Negroni introduces a more assertive combination of bitterness, sweetness and botanical complexity. Substituting NUAL for conventional gin creates an opportunity to explore how its distinctive Thai aromatics interact with the cocktail's familiar bitter profile.

The Hanky Panky presents another interpretation, incorporating sweet vermouth and the pronounced herbal bitterness of Fernet-Branca. Its complex structure offers an interesting setting for NUAL's aromatic ingredients, particularly the contrast between its warmer fragrance and cooling botanical characteristics.

The Corpse Reviver No. 2 brings together citrus, aromatised wine, orange liqueur and absinthe. Its brighter, more aromatic composition gives a different perspective on the spirit, showing how to incorporate NUAL into classic cocktails without abandoning their established identities.

The Red Snapper takes the tasting into savoury territory. Its tomato-based structure offers a different test for NUAL, placing the spirit's floral and cooling characteristics alongside the drink's spice and savoury depth. It broadens the picture of how NUAL works in cocktails beyond the more familiar bitter, herbal and citrus-led formats.

Together, the five cocktails demonstrate the practical advantage of NUAL's gin-inspired foundation. Bartenders can approach it through familiar recipes while experimenting with a botanical profile that offers an alternative expression of the classics.

NUAL represents a natural extension of wasteland's work, bringing together the team's interests in sustainable production, ingredient research and Thai culinary heritage. Its development also illustrates how a bar's research and experimentation can evolve into products intended for use beyond its own cocktail programme.

The spirit's cultural identity is particularly significant. Rather than depending on conventional representations of Thai flavour, NUAL explores the fragrances, ingredients and techniques that form part of the country's everyday culinary history. Its use of cacao husk also demonstrates how environmental considerations can influence product development without becoming disconnected from flavour.

For Gov and Tot, NUAL offers another means of communicating the principles that have shaped wasteland since its beginnings. With its sugarcane foundation, carefully selected botanicals and distinctive aromatic character, it introduces a contemporary interpretation of Thai craft spirits that respects tradition while leaving considerable room for experimentation.

Ultimately, NUAL's identity lies not in reproducing familiar expressions of Thailand, but in introducing a different perspective on what a Thai spirit can be. Credits Article: Wariya Intreyonk Photos: Wariya Intreyonk and courtesy