Mekong Moonshine
Vietnamese elixir cooks up in Rancho Cordova
By Gabrielle Myers
March 2026
Binh Đào and his uncle, Tuong Đào, opened Đào Distillery and tasting room in 2024 to “better serve our community and bring awareness to Vietnamese culture,” Binh says.
At the distillery and tasting room, customers try a traditional Vietnamese rice liquor from the Mekong Delta called rượu đế.
Similar to Japanese shochu or strong sake, the drink was considered moonshine in Vietnam. The Rancho Cordova distillery produces eight variations.
For the Đào family, getting to Sacramento was an epic ordeal.
After several attempts to flee Vietnam, they left by sea when Binh was a child. Battling a typhoon and avoiding pirates, the family reached Hong Kong, only to languish in refugee camps and get sent back to Vietnam seven years later.
In 1998, the Đàos gained refugee status and immigrated to the U.S. They arrived in Sacramento when Binh was 15.
Education was the family’s goal. Binh earned a doctoral degree at UC Davis. He teaches chemistry at Sacramento City College.
His passion for chemistry is obvious when I visit Đào Distillery.
A large, twisting copper distiller and bins of “broken,” mostly organic Calrose and jasmine rice, line the walls. The Đàos use rice fractured in the local milling process at Next Generation Foods. They get organic material whenever possible.
Sweet, yeasty fermenting rice grains and astringent alcohol smells fill the distillery. Bottles of rượu đế in various stages of infusion with ginseng, jujube and elderflower stand on a stainless-steel table.
Binh leads me through the distilling process and we pull the lid off foaming and fermenting rice liquid, which gets distilled to create rượu đế. Bin offers a taste. Essence of banana with a slight tang delivers complexity to the drink.
The coiled metal distiller converts the mix into 15 gallons of rượu đế. The work is labor intense, and Tuong produces just one batch per day. The liquid moves into old whisky and wine barrels for an aging process that takes between five and 15 months, depending on the variety. The crisp, cleansing taste grows more mellow and oaky with longer aging.
Binh and Tuong created a cherry whiskey. They started with 11,000 pounds of Bing cherries from Lodi, fermented the skins and juice, distilled the mixture, and aged the distillate in oak barrels for two months. The clean, intense alcohol is infused with a slight cherry flavor and aroma.
A liquid called “hem” is a byproduct of distillation. In Vietnam, this slightly acidic and nourishing liquid is served to pigs, resulting in meat valued for pink, lean skin.
Binh and Tuong want to use hem as their company moves closer to zero waste. Binh wants farmers and chefs to contact him and try hem in their businesses.
As we talk, Binh creates a hot pot lunch from liquid hem. We dip thin beef slices, floral mint, basil, coriander and lettuce leaves into the hem, which infuses each piece with a spike and tangy roundness. I imagine Midtown chefs using this liquid as a court bouillon or salting it for brining liquid.
Binh makes a hem cocktail, mixing it with ginger liquor and jasmine tea syrup. It reminds me of lemonade on a summer afternoon.
The Đàos hope to place their products in more stores and restaurants. With expansion, they want to create a business for their children.
“We spent a lot of time in school and educated our kids as well. Now they can expand on this and make a larger imprint on American society,” Binh says.
Đào Distillery is open Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 11460 Sunrise Gold Circle, Unit C, Rancho Cordova. Call (916) 831-8969 or visit daodistillery.com.
Gabrielle Myers can be reached at gabriellemyers11@gmail.com. Her latest book of poetry, “Points in the Network,” is available at finishinglinepress.com. Follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
