How did it start?
It started since I was a baby. I have a wonderful father and grandfather who taught me to respect nature. You have to see my home; I’ve spent my life close to nature.

Why grow your own food?
The diversity, the organic produce and the freshness. Everyone was just doing the same global techniques, but I realized that what we were missing was the farm concept. And in Italy, we have four seasons, and each time of the year, nature gives you different products. I give guests what I feel when I go outside.

What are the difficulties?
Growing something of great quality takes a lot of experience. You have to focus on it every day. When you’re young, you don’t understand it, but as you get older, you appreciate the value more. And sometimes, the organic products don’t come out like GMO [genetically modified organisms] ones, which are all the same size, same color, and grow four times faster.

Do Europeans understand the farm-to-table ethos?
I would say yes, if you compare it with 20 years ago. I personally care a lot about what I eat, but today people live fast-paced, stressful lives. You eat fast food, stuff like McDonald’s. Please don’t go there. There are wonderful products and better options available.

How did it start?
It started in Phuket. We put our products in 4- to 5-star hotels, and then the tourists loved it so much that they wanted us to ship it out for them. So we started to export mainly to the US, Japan and Europe. We find it very complicated selling alcohol in Thailand as taxation is quite high relative to other countries.

Who drinks your beer?
We represent a chill lifestyle. We don’t want people to just drink to get drunk. We want them to enjoy what’s in their glasses. We’re not the best but we’re happy with what we are.

What makes it premium compared to other local beers?
We use 80% malt and 15% Thai jasmine rice. It’s been premium since we started because we really care about its taste from the aromatic hops, yeast and many things. But people have different tastes in beer, and we can’t force them to like ours.

Where can we get it?
Many outlets, such as Villa Market, and some restaurants, like Greyhound, Pladib, Hyde & Seek and others, sell our beer. We’re quite picky of where we will have our products sold.

What do you think about the craze over imported beers?
It’s really fantastic. Before this, people drank only what they’re familiar with, but now they’ve become much more open and more fun.

Lager

Clear, crisp beers made with bottom-fermenting yeasts. Pale lagers are light to golden with an even cleaner, leaner taste.

Ale

A stronger, cloudier beer made with top-fermenting yeasts.

Pilsner

A pale lager with a more prominent hop (a flavorful flower) characteristic.

Witbier/Weissbier

Respectively the Belgian and the German names for ales that use a high proportion of wheat in place of the usual barley.

Enkel, dubbel, tripel

The three levels of strength of Belgian ales: basic, double, and triple (the strongest).

Dunkel

A dark, creamy, malty German beer (most commonly a lager).

Masita

Price: B20 for 16g
Singha is behind this product. The taste is average, with its saving grace being the chili to lift the bland flavor. It then turns peppery and sour, but still no taste of seaweed. And we also don’t like that it’s chewy. Isn’t it supposed to be crispy?
Verdict: Tiresome.

Shogune

Price: B33 for 40g
Again, too chewy and zero flavor, so much so that we even asked ourselves, “Wait, did we just eat something? And if so, what was it?”
Verdict: Feels like you’re chomping on paper.

Seleco

Price: B17 for 10.7g
This seaweed may remind you of your B2-seaweed childhood. Its old-school style includes super-thin slices in smaller packages inside. It tastes quite sweet, like the ones you have in ramen soup—an almost melt-in-your-mouth feeling. The light aroma of shoyu and its iodine notes are quite appetizing.
Verdict: Classic

Dozo

Price: B39 for 36g
It’s a perfect balance of taste and texture, with an appealing color, thickness and shape. We like that they fry it very lightly, while acheiving perfect crispiness, just the way it should be.
Verdict: Surprisingly good.

Tao Kae Noi

Price: B39 for 40g
Tao Kae Noi is everywhere. You’ve seen the ads on TV, at the movies and on bus es ad nauseum. This famous brand, however, didn’t earn our top pick because its greasy, rancid smell turned us right off. It was also a bit bitter. Finally, the very thin and very dark seaweed is too salty. Water, please!
Verdict: Warning on the salt-safety level.