Walk into any Wellcome, ParkNShop, Mannings, Watsons, or neighborhood herbalist shop in Hong Kong and you will almost certainly find a small dark brown glass bottle labelled Ricqlès Extract of Peppermint / 喼汁薄荷油 tucked between the Po Sum On and the White Flower Oil. To a visitor from Singapore or Taiwan this bottle looks alien — neither traditional Chinese herbal nor a modern Western pharmaceutical. To Hongkongers born before 1980 it is as familiar as Tiger Balm.
Ricqlès is the oldest continuously produced branded medicinal product sold in Hong Kong. The original formula dates to 1838 in Lyon, France, where the apothecary Hippolyte Ricqlès began distilling English peppermint into an alcoholic extract sold as a digestive and anti-fainting remedy for the aristocracy. The brand was imported to Hong Kong in the 1860s during the early colonial era and remained on pharmacy shelves through the handover in 1997, the SARS outbreak in 2003, the 2019 protests, and the COVID years.
This article is the complete brand guide: history, composition, regulatory status in both Hong Kong and the EU, traditional and evidence-based uses, how to use the 38 ml and 250 ml bottles safely, the counterfeit problem that emerged after 2018, and why a product that seems like a museum piece still sells over half a million bottles per year in Hong Kong alone.
Hippolyte Ricqlès (1812-1884) was a French apothecary who specialized in herbal distillations. His father had taught him that English peppermint (Mentha × piperita, the hybrid between spearmint and watermint cultivated in Mitcham, Surrey) produced an oil far superior to the native French Mentha viridis. In 1838, Hippolyte perfected a high-proof alcohol extract of English peppermint essential oil: roughly 80% ethanol v/v with 2-3% essential oil of peppermint by weight.
The product was named Alcool de Menthe de Ricqlès — Ricqlès Mint Alcohol — and sold first to Lyon pharmacists and then to Parisian salons. Its initial claimed indications included: syncope (fainting), indigestion, heart palpitations, seasickness, and general “weakness of the nerves.” Aristocratic women carried vials of it in their reticules as smelling salts. The intense menthol vapors produced an immediate arousal effect — effective whether or not the underlying complaint was psychological.
By 1870, Ricqlès had been adopted by the French military as a field remedy for heat stroke and for settling stomach after march rations. Napoleon III’s troops carried it during the Second Italian War of Independence. The company supplied the French Navy and East India trading ships, which is how it first reached Asia.
The first documented importation of Ricqlès into Hong Kong was in 1864, through the French trading house Olivier & Cie, which held the Far East distribution contract until 1919. Ricqlès quickly found a market among the colonial British population who used it as a general household digestive and for motion sickness on the junk crossings to Macau. By 1895, Chinese pharmacies along Queen’s Road Central were also stocking it under the Cantonese name 喼汁薄荷油 — literally “Worcester-sauce-bottle peppermint oil,” a reference to the distinctively shaped dark brown glass bottle that resembled the bottles used for Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, another colonial-era import.
The “喼汁” nickname stuck. Even today, many Hongkongers over 50 do not know the brand as Ricqlès but as 喼汁薄荷油 — and shop assistants will understand both names interchangeably.
Throughout the early 20th century, Ricqlès penetrated beyond the expatriate market and became genuinely popular among Cantonese families in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. It was used as:
The brand survived the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong (1941-1945) because the French Vichy government maintained relations with Japan and French traders were largely unmolested. After the war, imports resumed through Olivier’s successor company, and the 38 ml “pocket bottle” was introduced specifically for the Asian market — the European market used 100 ml and 250 ml sizes.
Ricqlès SA was acquired by Pernod Ricard in 1984 as part of Pernod’s absorption of various French liqueur and apothecary brands. Under Pernod’s ownership, Ricqlès was repositioned in the European market as a digestif liqueur (80% alcohol is, after all, indistinguishable from a spirits product) and simultaneously maintained in Asia as a traditional medicinal product. This dual positioning — medicine in Hong Kong, liqueur in France — continues to the present day.
In 1996, Pernod spun out Ricqlès to Société Ricqlès-Zan, a subsidiary, and began de-emphasizing the medicinal claims in France due to EU food/medicine classification tightening. In Hong Kong, however, Ricqlès retained its status as a proprietary Chinese medicine (中成藥) under the Chinese Medicines Ordinance until 2010, when it was reclassified as a “pharmaceutical product” requiring import registration.
Since 2010, Ricqlès sold in Hong Kong bears a Department of Health registration number and is subject to the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance. The importer since 2015 has been Jebsen Fine Foods & Wines, a division of the Jebsen Group conglomerate (better known as Porsche Hong Kong’s parent company). Jebsen sources directly from Pernod Ricard’s Créteil distillery outside Paris and ships refrigerated containers to Kwai Tsing for local distribution.
Annual Hong Kong sales run approximately 450,000 to 550,000 bottles across all sizes, generating retail revenue of roughly HKD 38-45 million. Of this, about 70% is the 38 ml bottle (retail HKD 75-95), 25% is the 100 ml (HKD 165-185), and 5% is the larger sizes for restaurants and hotels that use it as a food-flavoring spirit.
The modern Ricqlès Extract of Peppermint label lists:
There are no colors, preservatives, or additional fragrances. The brown tint comes from the pale green of pure peppermint oil darkening in alcoholic solution combined with the dark glass bottle.
The essential oil itself is, by weight, approximately:
This is a typical Mitcham-style peppermint oil composition. The high menthol content is what gives Ricqlès its characteristic intense cooling sensation on contact with mucous membranes.
Before discussing what the evidence supports, it is worth documenting what Hongkongers actually do with Ricqlès — because ethnographic usage differs from the European marketing.
The most common traditional Hong Kong use is to place 1-2 drops on the tongue or mix 3-5 drops into half a cup of hot water as an after-meal digestive. The effect is immediate: the menthol hits olfactory and trigeminal receptors producing a cooling rush, mild bronchodilation, and reduced nausea. Many grandmothers in Hong Kong keep a small Ricqlès bottle in their handbag specifically for this use.
Drop 2-3 drops on the wrist pulse points or on a handkerchief held near the nose. Used on minibuses, the Star Ferry, and the Cheung Chau ferry. The menthol inhalation activates the trigeminal nerve and, anecdotally, reduces the subjective experience of nausea within 20-30 seconds.
Place 1 drop on each temple and rub gently. The cooling sensation distracts from tension headaches and provides a “cold compress without ice” effect. Do not let it drift into the eyes — the vapors alone will cause intense tearing.
The historical Hong Kong folk protocol: 3-5 drops on the tongue, plus the patient is sat in shade with a wet towel on the neck. The menthol produces a strong subjective cooling effect and, more pragmatically, the 80% alcohol carrier delivers roughly 2-3 ml of alcohol which can briefly improve consciousness in mild heat exhaustion. This is not a substitute for medical care in serious heat stroke (core temperature >40 °C).
A drop of Ricqlès on a cotton pad held against an aching tooth. Similar principle to clove oil — counter-irritation and mild numbing from menthol. Not a cure but a short-term pain bridge before dental appointment.
Hong Kong hotel pastry kitchens and some dessert shops use Ricqlès as a flavor accent in mint-chocolate cakes, tiramisu, and tropical fruit salads. Three drops per kilogram of batter is typical. The alcohol evaporates during baking but the mint aroma persists.
What does the scientific literature support from the above list?
Multiple randomized controlled trials and a 2019 meta-analysis in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine support peppermint oil’s efficacy for irritable bowel syndrome symptoms and functional dyspepsia. The active mechanism is menthol-mediated calcium channel blockade in GI smooth muscle, producing mild relaxation. A 1-2 drop oral dose of Ricqlès contains approximately 1-2 mg of menthol — within the lower bound of pharmacological activity.
Cochrane reviews have found peppermint oil aromatherapy modestly effective for postoperative nausea and pregnancy-related nausea. The mechanism is uncertain but thought to involve trigeminal counter-stimulation combined with a mild central effect on the chemoreceptor trigger zone. Ricqlès inhalation for motion sickness is consistent with this evidence, even though peer-reviewed trials specifically of Ricqlès do not exist.
Topical peppermint oil applied to the temples for tension-type headache was studied in a 2016 German trial and found comparable to 1 g of oral paracetamol at 30 and 60 minutes. Ricqlès applied to the temples likely produces similar effects from both menthol cooling and TRPM8 activation.
There is no direct evidence that menthol or any peppermint extract improves outcomes in actual heat illness. The subjective cooling sensation is real (TRPM8 activation) but does not reduce core body temperature. Ricqlès should not be relied upon as a heat stroke treatment — shade, hydration, and cold water immersion (for severe cases) are the evidence-based interventions.
Registered with the Department of Health as a pharmaceutical product since 2010. Sold without prescription from all licensed pharmacies and most general pharmacies (Mannings, Watsons). The registration requires the importer (Jebsen) to maintain batch records and respond to any adverse event reports through the DoH’s pharmacovigilance system.
In France and most of the EU, Ricqlès is classified as a food supplement and digestive liqueur rather than a medicine. The EU’s 2004 Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive would allow Pernod Ricard to register it as a traditional herbal medicine, but the company chose the food-supplement route because the regulatory burden is lighter.
Ricqlès is not FDA-registered for any medicinal claim. It is imported as a dietary supplement by specialty French food importers and sold in French delicatessens. US labels cannot claim any health benefit.
Since 2018, imported Ricqlès sold in mainland China requires full China Food and Drug Administration approval as an imported health product. Most grey-market Ricqlès found in Shenzhen and Guangzhou is actually routed through Hong Kong and does not bear proper mainland registration — buyers should be aware this constitutes personal-use smuggling and is technically prohibited in quantities above two bottles.
Beginning around 2018, counterfeit Ricqlès bottles began appearing in Hong Kong, sourced from small factories in Yiwu and Dongguan. The counterfeits typically:
How to avoid counterfeits:
For readers who cannot source genuine Ricqlès or prefer other options:
None of the alternatives precisely replicate the Ricqlès experience, which is specifically the 80% ethanol carrier delivering pure peppermint oil to the tongue, the nose, or the skin with immediate effect.
Ricqlès Extract of Peppermint is, in 2026, a genuinely functional traditional medicinal product that deserves its shelf space in Hong Kong pharmacies. The evidence for peppermint oil in digestive disturbances, mild nausea, and tension headache is solid enough to justify its continued use, and the Jebsen-imported, DoH-registered product provides predictable quality control.
The main caveats are the safety issues with young children, the alcohol content for drivers and pregnant women, and the need to avoid counterfeits by buying from licensed pharmacies. Price per bottle remains reasonable (HKD 75-95 for 38 ml) and a single bottle lasts most households a year or more.
For Hongkongers looking for a portable, effective, multi-purpose herbal remedy with 180 years of proven use and modern regulatory oversight, Ricqlès is hard to beat. It is not a cure for serious conditions, but for the daily frictions of urban life — queasiness, fatigue, minor headaches, a sluggish digestion after a heavy hot-pot meal — a small brown bottle of French peppermint extract remains a surprisingly effective tool.
And for those who simply enjoy the sudden, bright, ice-crystal-clear mint hit of a drop of Ricqlès on the tongue after a long afternoon in the subtropical heat, no scientific evidence is really necessary. Some things have worked for 180 years for a reason.