Khmer Drinks

Drink in Cambodia

The tap water supply in Phnom Penh has undergone significant changes following a "water revolutionary" in the government, Ek Sonn Chan. Consequently in Phnom Penh you can drink the tap water without problem, although it is highly chlorinated and you may not like the taste. 

Outside of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap tap water should be assumed not to be potable. Khmer brand water in blue plastic bottles sell for 1000 riels or less, although prices are often marked up for tourists to 50 cents or a dollar.

Soft Drinks

Iced coffee is ubiquitous in Cambodia. It is made Vietnamese style, freshly brewed and mixed with sweetened condensed milk. Walk past a local eatery any time of the day and you are bound to see at least a table of locals drinking them. One glass costs between 1500-2000riel. Iced tea made with lemon and sugar is also refreshing and ubiquitous.

Fresh coconut can be found everywhere, you could say it is ubiquitous, and is healthy and sanitary if drunk straight from the fruit.

Beer and Wine

In general, Khmers are not what could be described as casual drinkers: the main objective is to get hammered as quickly as possible. Know your limits if invited to join in!

The two most popular domestic Cambodian beers are Anchor — pronounced "an-CHOR" with a ch sound! — and Angkor. Beer Lao and Tiger are popular beers with foreigners. A plethora of other beers include ABC Stout, which is dark and not so bad, in addition to the standard Heineken and Carlsberg. Cheaper beers include Crownand Leo, whilst Kingdom Beer aims for the premium market with a pilsener and a dark lager. In Phnom Penh some of the foreigner oriented bars have also added harder to find import beers to their menu; the Green Vespa and Garage Bar both now carry a wide selection of English beers.

Recently Cambodia can produce Grape Wine with export standard, called Prasat Phnom Banon Grape Wine, the first ever wine locally produced in Cambodia in which breeds of grape are imported from various conuntries such as, USA, Australia and French. 

Khmer’s Red Wine is made from grape fruits and is a new product in Cambodia. Cambodia’s grape wine

was recognized by OVOP National Committee as a product of One Village One Product.