Handcrafted in Sarawak · Since 2020
Heritage, in our own hands.
Tuak Atelier was founded in Sarawak in 2020 by Evelyn Teo and Sangan, out of a shared curiosity during their time at WAT Academy.
The first recipes were not ours to invent. They came from ancestral knowledge passed down through generations in Sangan’s Dayak longhouse in Julau, Sarawak, and that knowledge is the soul of our earliest batches. Sangan is no longer with the brand. What she carried is still in every bottle we make, and it is right that she is named here.
As the atelier grew, Evelyn brought in her elder mother, and with her the red-yeast winemaking of the family’s Foochow Chinese heritage. That intergenerational meeting — Dayak brewing traditions and Chinese technique, held side by side — is what shapes the range: wild fermentation, cross-cultural expression, and a willingness to experiment.
How we craft
From rice to ritual
- 01
Rice & Ragi
We begin with glutinous rice and ragi — a traditional fermentation starter — the twin souls of every batch.
- 02
The Jar
Steamed, cooled and folded together, the rice ferments in jars. Fermentation time varies by recipe, environment and desired style. Patience does the work.
- 03
Infusion
Local fruits, botanicals and spices — pineapple, black pepper, lemongrass, red yeast — are layered in by hand.
- 04
The Vintage
Each batch is finished, dated and labelled by hand. No two vintages are ever exactly alike.
Foochow × Dayak
A fusion of two inheritances
Our signature Tuak Merah is the clearest expression of who we are: the ruby depth of Foochow red-yeast wine, married to Bornean ragi. Two winemaking traditions that rarely meet, brought together in one jar.
A house with a purpose
Carried by hands we trained
Tuak Atelier grew out of WAT (Work and Training), the social enterprise Evelyn founded in 2016 to train marginalised Bornean youth in hospitality. Every bottle is made — and its craft carried forward — by hands we have taught ourselves. To own one is to be a patron of a living tradition.
“I wanted to give Borneo’s oldest wine the craft, the design and the pride it has always deserved — and to put it on the world’s finest tables.”
Begin
Taste a timeless art.
Explore the collections, or speak with the atelier and we’ll guide you to your first vintage.