It's good to get entrepreneur and designer Kawee Kokiatikul frustrated sometimes. His disgruntlement over news of angry farmers dumping produce such as lychees and longans in a protest against low prices six years ago inspired him to create the Chiang Mai beverage brand Maa Jai Dum (black-hearted dog). He was determined to use local fruits as ingredients.
Kawee Kokiatikul, the inventor of Maa Jai Dum.
"How many kilos of longans, lychees, and other fruits have we lost year after year?" asked Kawee.
Apart from pity for farmers, Kawee also felt drinkers had limited choice when it came to strong liquor.
There were only two choices in the market: either expensive imported liquor or cheaper, but poor-quality locally made rice wine. The former costs at least several hundred baht and the latter about 50 baht, but there was nothing in between.
The poor quality of liquor was his concern. While cheap, locally made rice wine was plentiful in Chiang Mai, there was no guarantee that the brew from the backyard would be safe to drink.
"A good alcohol beverage shouldn't bother your palate and stomach while drinking, and your head the morning after," he said, laughing.
Given his product line, you could be forgiven for thinking Kawee is something of a heavy drinker. But Kawee said he was really only able to drink properly after starting his own product. Before that, he always developed a severe headache after two glasses of alcohol, followed by a hangover in the morning.
After reading two books about making alcohol, he started experimenting to find the right raw ingredients and the right recipe. He embarked on countless trials and came up with more than a few bad results in the course of two years, then successfully distilled the first Maa Jai Dum Flowery, from coconut flowers, and had the brand registered in 2007.
He kept on experimenting with new flavours and had Maa Jai Dum Lumka, distilled from potato in 2008, and Maa Jai Dum Bananas distilled in 2009. All have a 40% alcohol content. After selling Maa Jai Dum in a regular 750ml size, he introduced the 330ml bottle to the market the following year.
Two years ago, he introduced Maa Jai Dum Flowery Mayrai, which is made from coconut flower. For this he combined Western winemaking processes with the theory behind kra-chae, a local liquor made from sugar. In all, it takes 18 months to make. Instead of doing things the traditional way, he fermented the coconut flower the way the French do with their wine grapes. Despite its 12% alcohol content, he doesn't call it wine because it was made from coconut flowers and he wanted an original name for the market to recognise.
Maa Jai Dum is now available in 7-Eleven outlets in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Lamphun at 230 baht for a small bottle and 390 baht for a large bottle, and 320 baht for Mayrai.
Being a tropical country, Thailand has plenty of raw ingredients for liquor making, he said. A simple rule is that any produce containing flour or sugar can be fermented.
From his experience, bananas and coconut flowers are ideal. They are easy to find in Thailand, and virtually unknown flavours in the world of liquor.
"I needed something different from [what was on] the market," said Kawee, who also designed the brand's logo, featuring a grinning American bulldog.
Recently, he welcomed a group of media representatives at his house in Chiang Mai, and supplied some cocktails of his own invention, which are designed for the hot climate. For example, Maa Na Ron (Summer Dog) is a mixture of mango juice, banana juice, and banana-flavoured Maa Jai Dum. Maa Khu Kam, named after the popular novel-turned-film Khu Kam which opened in cinemas earlier this month, mixes his Lumka flavour, green tea and cherry blossoms.
The 46-year-old engineer has always been inventive. After graduating from Rajamangala Institute Payap Campus, he spent seven years in the construction field, but found himself out of place. His first entrepreneurial venture began in 1995 when he launched a collection of decorative candles under the brand Maew Jai Dee (Warm-Hearted Cat) which became popular due to their design and aroma. He left the business to his partner.
Kawee has also invented items for his own use. He once made a raincoat to wear while riding his motorcycle because the products on the market weren't convenient enough.
The entrepreneur said each country or region has internationally-recognised signature drinks: vodka from Russia, tequila from Mexico, schnapps from the German-speaking countries, sake from Japan, or soju from Korea.
"What do we have to compete with the world? Rice wine?" Kawee exclaimed.
Kawee is not hiding his ambition. He does not want to limit his liquor business to the North, or the countryside. Instead, his goal is to make Maa Jai Dum an international brand. He plans to enter the San Francisco World Spirits Competition next year. This year, he's redesigning the packaging so it stands out from the competition. An international award will make it easier for the product to speak for itself, he said.
"I want to make this local, simple brand outstanding on the world market."
