With Cambodia’s cocktail scene growing rapidly, French mixologist Mathilde Thillay’s online business is ensuring enthusiasts are guaranteed the best in quality and taste.

Bottl’it – the brainchild of enterprising French mixologist Mathilde Thillay – is ensuring Cambodia’s cocktail lovers are guaranteed the tastiest tipples at affordable prices.

Thillay said that while cocktails are rapidly becoming more and more popular in the Kingdom, enthusiasts are being let down by a lack of expertise and passion – which is where her online business comes in, handcrafting and bottling a range of popular cocktails.

“People in Cambodia are becoming more and more interested in cocktails – it’s like it was 10 years ago in France, and today it’s a huge market there.

“Unfortunately, rare are the bartenders who have had proper training and understand the importance of using high quality products or getting the right balance in a cocktail.

“In Cambodia, we live in a country with an incredible range of fresh products such as fruit, yet most bars still use low quality juices or syrups in bottles instead of making it themselves. Today, you mostly pay for the venue more than the drink,” Thillay said.

To address this, she had long envisaged starting a business to best serve the Kingdom’s growing cocktail scene, with Bottl’it currently offering a compact range of cocktails.

Thillay insists on using local ingredients wherever possible, and to avoid waste, the infused fruit is reused to make jams and syrups.

“Our menu is limited for the moment to about 17 different cocktails. We offer some classics such as Negroni, Penicillin, Martini, and some twists with Asian ingredients, such as Mango Chili Margarita, Boulevardier with Mondulkiri coffee or Manhattan with curry.

“We can also create new cocktails on special demand. While we try to use as much as possible high quality products and local ingredients, we unfortunately can’t yet find everything in Cambodia at reasonable prices.

“Outside the spirits, we use 99 per cent local and Southeast Asian products. The only product which is not is the agave syrup that we use for the Margarita, so – except for special demand for private events – don’t expect a Raspberry Margarita or Cosmopolitan from us!” she said.

And this commitment to the highest quality extends to providing a comprehensive range of catering and consultation services.

“We offer all kinds of consulting services to help to grow and improve food and beverage businesses, from creating management tools to taking over the management of a place for couple of months to establish more efficient protocols and train the staff. All would depend on the customer’s budget and needs.

“The same applies to our catering service, which provides a range of services from simply ordering bottles of cocktails or having a special drinks menu – wine, beer, cocktails, et cetera – created for the occasion, to having a bartender doing the drinks or a full team taking care of every aspect of the event. We can even propose a catering partner to take care of the food part.

“We recently held an anniversary event with around 50 guests, with my team taking care of all the drinks and Pepe Bistrot the food – it was a really nice experience and a great evening,” Thillay said.

The Normandy native says that while she initially began the enterprise to supply the Kingdom’s growing number of cocktail lovers with the genuine article, she quickly saw increased business opportunities.

“At the beginning we were only targeting individuals who like cocktails but didn’t know how to properly make them or didn’t want to invest hundreds of dollars in equipment and spirits.

“But we soon realised there was also a market for businesses, mostly restaurants and bar venues who didn’t have the equipment or staff to make proper cocktails but had customers who would appreciate them. So now we offer our products in larger quantities with B2B prices,” Thillay said.

She says that while even those in the industry can benefit from her continuous dedication to the craft, her considerable experience is available to those looking to discover the elaborate world of cocktails.

“I graduated from bartending school about 10 years ago in France. I then worked in different bars until I had the chance to join the incredible team of one of the best bar companies in France – Quixotic Project – where I could learn a lot about cocktails. I started as bartender, then became manager.

“I regularly read a lot on the best cocktail bars and bartenders, have bought lots of books and follow international events such as the Tales of Cocktails trade conference and Speed Racks competition.

“And while Bottl’it can help with private or public events with different packages, and offer consulting for businesses looking to improve their bars, we can even hold master classes for people who would like to learn more about cocktails and spirits!” she said.