'Nam Keng' in your beer
Although I am not a real beer drinker, this did not apply during my stay Thailand. The scorching heat and spicy food ensure that the golden-colored barley drink tastes great. A refreshing cold beer is a delicious and welcome thirst quencher.
The most famous beer brands in Thailand are Singha, Chang and Leo. I used to choose Leo many times, but I'm back to Singha. A somewhat spicy taste that, in my opinion, can be combined well with spicy Thai food. Incidentally, if you have eaten too spicy, beer or water does not help to extinguish things. The only way to get rid of the burning sensation is to drink milk.
Nam Keng
When you visit Thailand as a tourist, you will probably notice that many Thais do something we detest, namely throwing ice cubes ('Nam Keng' in Thai) into their beer. Thais find it tasty and extra cooling. For us Westerners it is tantamount to sacrilege. Of course I have tried it before, but in my opinion it ruins the taste of the beer, it makes it watery.
If you visit a restaurant or bar in Thailand exclusively with Westerners, you will not easily be asked if you want ice in your beer. However, if you go out with Thai people you usually hear: 'ao nam keng mai?' or 'do you want ice in your beer?'. And don't be surprised that Thais eagerly take advantage of this.
And you? Do you want ice in your beer or not?
About this blogger
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Known as Khun Peter (62), lives alternately in Apeldoorn and Pattaya. In a relationship with Kanchana for 14 years. Not yet retired, have my own company, something with insurance. Crazy about animals, especially dogs and music.
Enough hobbies, but unfortunately little time: writing for Thailandblog, fitness, health and nutrition, shooting sports, chatting with friends and some other oddities.
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Always put ice in my beer in Thailand and even in NL when it's hot.
manau or lemon or lime.
Do I have a radler WITH alcohol.
First time people look strange my brothers-in-law also like it.
'Lemon' is not lime, but lemon. 'Lime', in English 'lime', is another citrus fruit.
No, no ice in my beer.
With the 'spicy' food I prefer not to have beer at all, rather water.
In my experience, beer only stimulates the Spicy effect, which I usually don't need, when my mouth is already on fire and sweat starts to trickle down my face.
Water helps, beer only makes it worse.
Like the writer, I am not a real beer drinker, but in Thailand it is indeed a great thirst quencher.
At first I also refused those ice cubes in my beer, but I soon found out that when I drink in Thai company, I had better do that. Otherwise, with the same 'fluid intake', I would ingest much more beer/alcohol than the table companions who did fill the glass with ice cream………….
Most Thai don't put ice in the beer BUT beer with the ice. Not to drink. Just like drinking water. Give me the times I drink beer, and there aren't that many, just cold beer. The comment that if you drink Thai beer, you better drink it with ice, because otherwise you will ingest a lot (too much) beer…that is of course up to you. You control how much you drink. I usually drink whiskey and then plain in front of others with water. But if I've had enough, then it's enough and I stop. Then less social at that moment
And if the beer (like many locations outside the tourist spots) isn't cold? Putting ice in chilled beer doesn't really make sense. But what should you drink if somewhere along the road or in a tent you can choose from all kinds of unrefrigerated drinks with (standard) ice to cool the drink? I like to drink a beer or something soft with dinner but chilled, so hop in ice and drink a bit.
If the Thai drink alcohol, and they usually do, often all day long!, lao kaow, beer, or home-made, then ice cubes are always added, and that is for a good reason, if they don't, there is a definite chance of hence dehydration, I also like to drink a beer in moderation, only chang without ice, except at parties where the heavenly moisture flows abundantly, then my beer also contains ice, otherwise you won't last all day at the Thai temperatures …… ice cream is also going in today! CHEERS.
Have a nice party!
Hi,
I take a spy classic nice and cool and just as refreshing and is tasty and if you take two you sleep better
g William
if you have eaten spicy food, it is best to drink milk, it helps excellently
I always put ice cubes in my beer simply because I detest lukewarm beer. I usually drink Beer Chang and those bottles are 640cl and 6.4% alcohol. Because I'm busy with this 640 cl, adding ice cubes is a must as far as I'm concerned. The beer at the Thai temperatures is quickly too warm for me to drink tasty. I think it's fine with a beer with a slightly higher alcohol percentage such as the 6.4% of Chang!!
Chang beer has not been 6,4% alc for a few years. more but dropped intermittently to 5,5% alc., the large bottles also became smaller when they turned green and now have a capacity of 620 cl.
Here in the Isan I usually drink my Chang beer with ice cubes, because here they often only sell large bottles and that makes the beer too hot for me to drink too quickly, so I put an ice cube in it.
Now the alcohol percentage of Chang beer has even dropped to 4,8% alc..
It depends on the circumstances with me.
When the beer is well chilled, I drink it like this.
If it is not or little cooled, ice will be added.
Is beer with ice good? No, but I don't like lukewarm/warm beer either, so I prefer ice in my beer.
Dutch "beer connoisseurs" told me that the beer was short in the fridge and was therefore not really cold. As a solution, ice was therefore put in the beer.
As Cornelis already writes: ice cubes in beer is nothing more than getting a cold drink that tastes slightly better than just cold water, namely: with a light beer taste. By the way: the same as a cap of whiskey in a glass full of ice cubes. This way you can drink "liters" of that stuff without getting drunk, and still taste a bit better than plain water.
Absolutely no ice in my beer (leo). In recent years I drink from the bottle, so I no longer have that problem, but in the beginning I always drank from a glass. Not paying attention for a moment, and a helpful Thai flicked ice cubes in your beer. Especially in not really touristy area like Khonkaen. And I always order a bottle of water instead of beer with my food. And to extinguish the spicy food some Chinese cabbage leaf, or another vegetable.
I myself have always preferred a black soda with a lot of nam kheng.
“Thai find that tasty and extra cooling. For us westerners it is a sacrilege.”
I totally disagree with this and many farang here in Thailand with me. I also always put ice cubes in my beer and even white wine. Even if I am in the Netherlands and it is terribly hot there. I find this absolutely untrue! In addition, you get extra water, which counteracts the effect of alcohol and which is also much needed at those temperatures.
As every Belgian knows, lukewarm beer is not drinkable.
A few lumps in beer or white wine is very tasty and refreshing.
Whatever the opinion, cold is better.
Have never seen anything other than ice in beer and wine in various tropical countries. It's just that we're not used to it, that's all. And beer already consists partly of water, so those few ice cubes are also possible. And to call it a sacrilege for adding some ice to a stupid medieval habit of drinking beer is going a long way.
We are in Thailand now and if you want a really cold beer you can also ask for your bottle in an ice bucket!
I have lived in Thailand for years and always ask for an ice bucket for my beer. Never a probem!
you're lucky they understand that! Used to be much in demand and then they look at you like a cow watching a train pass!
Going to eat in a Thai restaurant on Sunday and there they spontaneously put the beer in a bucket with ice! One learns at (Ubon Ratchathani)!
No ice in beer for me thanks Sorry but I don't trust this ice cream. But do people in Thailand ( outside tourist areas ) also have dark beer ?
No never seen. Well imported dark beer. My Thai friends love Duvel and Leffe brown (popular among the Thai population at the moment), but to be honest, I don't like dark beer when it's hot. Just like red wine, which I love in the Netherlands. I usually take a 3L box of Chardonnay and a 3L box of Rose with me when I go to Thailand, because wine is very expensive there.
lao
I don't need ice cubes in my beer. A glass or bottle of chilled beer is so empty for me. Accustomed to beer from a young age, I can drink many liters of it before I start to notice anything. Doesn't happen that often anymore because in recent years I prefer to drink an Irish single malt whiskey ...... But never and never not ice in any drink whatsoever.
I don't take ice in anything, chilled drinks are “cold” enough for me. Tried it but it hurts my gut. It's too cold.
Not at first, thought it was sacrilege too, but over the years I've gotten used to it and now in Thailand I prefer (Leo) beer with ice.
However, the ratio has to be right; sometimes you sit at those restaurants where the waitresses keep throwing blocks at you while you've just taken a sip, so that fifteen minutes later you have a mug of ice water in front of you, so the condition is that I keep tasting beer. But in that scorching heat, I advise people to put ice in it anyway. You sweat a lot more, so your body needs a lot more moisture. Because of all that ice you suffer much less from headaches, dehydration and a hangover.
Be careful if you are old or have a weak stomach and are not used to the bacteria in Thai drinking water. My mother occasionally goes to Thailand, but consistently refuses ice in her drinks, because she immediately has diarrhoea. Ice cream in Thailand is often made from tap water that passes through a filter. They don't make it from Perrier unfortunately!
I actually can't remember getting a beer bottle and a glass without ice in Thailand. Must be a rarity if you get into everyday restaurants. No, just a standard glass or bucket with ice. If not, I'll ask for it. Lukewarm beer is not tasty and if you fill the glass regularly and then drink it quickly, it is not really watery.
I never drink beer with ice, and certainly not red wine from the fridge, from my catering experience I know that ice-cold wine numbs your taste buds and you hardly taste anything anymore, was a trick in the restaurant that when a customer said that the white wine was passé, while it wasn't, we cooled the white wine extra, and then suddenly it was good, because the customer didn't taste it anymore.
So never ice for me, and if I want an ice-cold Leo in the room, with me they are just in a separate compartment in the freezer, but certainly no ice, you can just as well drink ice water at the end.
And to reply to a comment above, I've lived in Pattaya for three years, and they never put ice in my beer, in any bar, only if you ask, even my girlfriend at her San Miguel never gets ice, only if she asks, and I've been to quite a few bars around here anyway. And I see quite a few expats here drinking their beer from the bottle, in a bottle cooler, without ice!
And heat, Thailand is a tropical country, and so most days very warm, don't suffer from it, and don't sweat, on the contrary, it can't be warm enough for me, don't even have air conditioning, don't want one!
Regards, Rudy
That could very well be Rudy, I assume that a restaurant or bar serves what is customary among the customers. I have only been to Pattaya in 2010 in the bar. In the following years, the catering industry has mainly been Korean BBQ in, for example, Thonburi (BKK), Khon Kaen and mostly small towns. Places with little to no foreigners. I think the Thai has standard Namkeng in the beer, so it is not surprising that this is standard. Now of course I can't remember every drink anymore, I'm sure there were times served without ice, but rarely.
The chance of ice in your beer at Holiday Inn or a Patayan bar will certainly be small, I guess, the chance of no ice at a place far from the tourist paths will also be small. Or I'm totally off track, that's also possible. 555
Hi
If moderator allows it, I would like to add something to the responses to the question of the questioner. the question is clear, do you want ice or not in your beer… that question is very clear, but some reactions say, no, I don't like it, but I still have to drink it like that in bars because no other choice, or unsolicited, or just a little too late.
Because of unsolicited ice in beer, or just too late, or no other choice… that intrigues me.
My favorite cafe here in Pattaya is the Marquee on soi Buakhao, packed every day with expats and tourists of all stripes. A legacy from my hospitality past is that I always watch the customers, what they drink and how it is served. Is it the same in other bars?
Beer is always served in a bottle cooler here, they call it a condom, a condom. Never in a glass with ice! If in some bars a glass filled with ice cubes is served next to your beer, they will never pour it into your glass themselves, not behind the bar, and not at the table. You do that yourself!
If there were a bar that would do it, while I don't want it, then I refuse it emphatically and don't pay it either, because I didn't ask for it. Ok, chatting is not allowed here, otherwise I would like to know the names of bars in Pattaya that would, and leave the customer with no choice but to drink beer with ice in it against their will. Would agree with Gringo, who I once had a nice chat with in his favorite pool room
So I want to go to such a bar to experience it myself. Some readers are now going to say, then you will definitely have problems. Well, I would like to see that, because the chance is minimal. In fact, in the bars I frequent, the beer is in a freezer or in a fridge set at 1°. If that fridge opens and closes often, there is ice formation in the fridge due to condensation from the contact of warm air with cold, and some bottles can form ice, which is always checked, so that there is certainly no ice in your beer, at least, that is my almost daily experience.
And yes, you see expats or tourists here drinking beer in a glass with ice cubes, my friend always drinks her San Miguel with ice, because she likes it so much, so she asks for a glass with ice, in many bars you have to ask, because they don't ask, in other bars they do.
And if you see tourists drinking beer with ice, pay attention and see who is pouring it!
I think this would clear up a lot of misconceptions.
If moderator allows, because this is not off-topic, I would very much like to hear it via personal mail with permission from the editors. There are bars in Pattaya, don't go to Bangkok especially to visit a bar.
Regards.
Rudy.
As you rightly wrote “the question is clear, do you want ice or not in your beer”.
I don't know why you go all out with that story about Pattaya, because no one else is talking about Pattaya. More than that, I don't read anything about bars anywhere.
Anyone who has ever visited a bar will agree that bottles are placed in a “condom”.
But beer is not only drunk in bars and not only in Pattaya.
If you go somewhere, anywhere in Thailand, to eat/drink (is always together anyway), and you order beer or any other drink, then it will almost always be without a “condom”, but the bottles will be placed on the side table on wheels. placed. The drink can be placed in an ice bucket, but usually there is an ice bucket next to it with ice to put in the glasses. A bottle (with a “condom”) is rarely placed on the table, but almost always a glass. And that glass usually contains ice.
The person serving you will then regularly fill your glass with ice and beer and that is usually unsolicited.
And filling that glass is what I don't like. I realize well enough that it is a service, but the Thai, like the British, are used to filling the glass without a foam head. Take a sip and the glass is refilled. And if you buy a bottle of 640 cl. you will have to drink from a glass.
Rudi in Pattaya that is not done, but there they are also small bottles that are still in a cool condom (sorry for my pronunciation) but you know. With us in the interior, these are generally large bottles, so it is more difficult to keep cold because almost 3 glasses come out and they do not fit in such a condom, although I know that also exists for large bottles. So for me anyway a block of nam keng in my beer.
There are indeed condoms for large bottles
The solution to not drinking lukewarm beer is to have fresh beer
drink faster.
I hardly ever use ice in my beer, only in emergencies
If you drink beer to preserve the special taste of how the beer tastes, I would never put ice in it, or drink something else.
If I have to put into words how beer tastes with ice cubes in it
Is it like drinking a glass of water with an aftertaste.
Years ago I went on vacation to America.
Did you get a beer glass from the freezer, also a special experience!!
We do too. There are a number of glasses in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. First 2 cm of drinking water in the glass and then into the freezer compartment. Always a fresh glass with ice ready for beer, lemonade, Cola, etc.
I always get diarrhea after consuming ice in the beer.
Maybe the ice isn't the cause...but my stomach often reacts. I also hear that there may be bacteria in the ice.
Nope, but usually you're just too late.
And if you want to put the bottle in the ice cooler, you are completely wrong in their eyes
Also observed: Thais drinking beer diluted with ice cubes through a straw………….
Beer with a straw, see where we drink beer many Thais stop by car, then walk to the fridge and have a large Chang or Leo, pay and get a straw, I thought it was for spilling while driving but according to my women, they become mao faster if they drink through a straw.
No name in my little Leo
better order a small bottle, or can,
you really have to drink those half liters quickly, too big for me
quickly become lukewarm, then no longer tasty
Funny, in the Netherlands they put lemon in their Mexican beer for the taste
in mexico they drive away the flies with that lemon
of course no ice!! the only problem is drink the beer cold pour only "half" gas and keep the bottle cool (in a Chp.cooler) enjoy and drink in moderation!
Dissolve ice in the beer, or wine
makes ice cubes of the beer or wine you drink in advance in the freezer section of the refrigerator,
then you have cold beer and keep the same taste.
Another excellent thirst quencher is the Thai national drink: Black-so, or Johnny Walker black label with soda water and lots of ice. It combines excellently with Thai food and it is surprising. I became less full of it. The Thai has taken a good look at that.
The qualification 'Thai national drink' for a mix with Johnny Walker Black Label is completely misplaced.
Is one of the habits I brought with me from Thailand to the Netherlands: A LOT of ice cubes in your beer to drink cool – and somewhat tasteful – water without consuming too much alcohol too quickly. A hot evening on 3 beers….
Small bottles are often offered in the bars, which are already well cooled in a so-called condom bottle.
The advantage also for the slightly slow drinker is that these insulation tubes keep the beer nice and cool for quite some time.
It will be different if you are sitting somewhere where only large bottles are sold, then I often find it difficult to enjoy these cool in the long run when it is very hot.
Those who think that despite great heat ice does not belong in the beer, because this equals sacrilege, as far as I'm concerned, they can also drink their piss-warm beer, as long as I don't have to drink with them.
If you are in a slightly larger group with a fresh draft beer, you will also often see the slightly higher double-walled beer cylinders, where the ice is located in a double wall and not directly in the beer.
But anyway, beer should be fresh and cold for me, and this can only be achieved with ice in some circumstances.
I always place my bottle of Leo in the ice bucket.
Not the ins from that bucket in my glass.
Always delicious! k cold beer.
Simple huh. …?
In the better business you scream a glass from the freezer. I also always ask for an ice bucket with ice cubes. Your ber stays nice and cool and you don't have to drink dishwater.
no fuss, in Thailand just ice in your beer…………..
As a Belgian beer drinker, I can also enjoy a cool pint in Thailand. The beer should indeed be drunk cold, at home that is no problem, but this is often a problem when you are out, because diluting beer with melting water is not an option.
I found the following on that and that drinks smoothly.
I order along with the beer, nam keng and an extra glass. The Thai co-drinkers tip that ice with their beer, I fill that extra glass with ice cubes. By the time my first pint has been consumed, my spare glass is well chilled and I can drink my next pint in it. Meanwhile, the first glass can be cooled again. This way you can keep going as long as there is ice cream and beer or until you can no longer taste the difference…
Dear editors,
My point of view is; small bottle in condom and a large one in glass with lots of ice!
Yours faithfully,
Erwin
ALWAYS ice in my, preferably Chang, beer otherwise I don't like it.
Thai beer is the only thing I don't like… with ice.
It must be the only BEER
The production of the ice cubes you get in a resaurant is extremely UNHIEGYENIC, see video on FBK. Absolutely not recommended to use in any kind of drink.
Ice cubes in your beer or in your (real) whiskey is a curse. You can then drink water. There is an alternative type of stones (inox, ceramic, soapstone, granite, ...) that you cool completely in the freezer, but that do not spoil your drink with water when thawed.
Spicy food. Your lips burn and you have tears in your eyes. Beer, water and milk are of no help.
Sugar, that helps. Sugar perfectly tempers that spicy feeling in your mouth. So, 1 glass of Sprite in between and you're the man again.
What a problem with ice in your beer. Happens to me sometimes too, but then you still have a hand to get it out. It only happens to me when I'm invited to their party by Thai people. Arrange a bucket with ice (always on the table) and put your pre-cooled beer bottle in it: delicious!
In Vietnam this is even worse, the first time I was served this, now 16 years ago in Hanoi, I threw the ice away, to the astonishment of the staff. I was allowed to come back, but the next day they first came to ask me if I wanted ice in my beer. I noticed afterwards that the bottles of beer were served unrefrigerated. That's not drinking either, so I opted for co da, (with ice) of the 2 bad manners afterwards. Drink a little faster otherwise you will drink water.
No of course not. ice in whiskey or wine you don't do that anyway. I'd be ashamed!!
I think you should drink beer the way you like it. Millions of French drink red wine cold. Do we have comments on that too? Eat or drink what you like, the way you like it.
sacrilege and tasteless
If you know that beer is made from 90% water, what's the problem with ice cubes? The only thing that worries me is the ice cubes themselves how they are manufactured industrially or self-made with the risk of tap water that can cause diarrheal consequences due to typhoid fever
If your beer is under 6gr. C, you can't taste the beer anymore... so they can just camouflage everything that could be wrong 555
I think that after a few beers without ice, people will no longer care about how beer tastes 😉
Glass full of ice and beer Chang poured over it. Only if I occasionally drink a Heineken, there is no ice in it.
Otherwise, try adding beer to Heineken... 😉
I live in a village just outside Khon Kaen.
Always drink the large bottle of Leo at home, well chilled.
Last week we went with the family to a newly opened restaurant.
Menu even with some English texts.
I ask for a Leo jen jen (extra cold).
Take 1 sip and the rest of the beer immediately comes out of the bottle, which had been in the refrigerator for less than 5 minutes.
A polite bye bye was said and we went home, lukewarm beer is undrinkable and ice cream is not part of it.
Ice cubes in your beer, I had never heard of it until I was introduced to Thailand. If in moderation, I can enjoy it, but only add it when the beer becomes a bit warmer, not right from the start. For me, beer tastes best when it is constantly cold. When I'm outside, I immediately ask for a little bit of ice, but only separately from the glass, and then of course I add it myself. Not always possible, but it is the best. When I'm at home, I naturally do it this way as standard.