Nutmeg Factory — Attraction in George Town

“Factory” is a generous term. If your idea of a factory involves machinery, guided tours, hard hats, or even a receptionist — keep driving. This place is more like a nutmeg-themed shop run by your very nice auntie and her cousins. And that’s exactly its charm.

You won’t see any big machinery here. It’s just a few nutmeg trees, some drying racks out in the sun, and a humble shop selling things that smell amazing. And it’s probably not worth driving 45 minutes from George Town — at least, not yet.

Set in the green, sleepy hills of Balik Pulau, the place is hard to find unless you're really trying. There’s a sign — sort of. Down a slope, past a bend. But once you get there, you’re greeted with nutmeg everything: juice, balm, oil, jam, syrup, tea. Basically, if it can be extracted, fermented, preserved, or rubbed on sore joints — they’ve done it with nutmeg.

The “tour” — if you can call it that — is DIY. There are a few signs with information that look like they were composed on PowerPoint. If you're lucky, someone from the family will come out and give you a surprisingly fascinating explanation about nutmeg’s anatomy — male vs. female fruit, the red lacy stuff is mace, the brown seed is the money-maker. Don’t expect a TED Talk. This is more of a Q&A.

But if you're already in Balik Pulau or doing a slow meander through the countryside — yes. Pull over. Stretch your legs. Drink the nutmeg juice. Chat with the owners. Pet the cats. Buy a balm or three.

You’ll leave with something useful, probably smell like Christmas, and maybe even know a little more about the spice that once caused entire countries to go to war. Not bad for a one-hour stop on the side...

The place is not really a factory but rather a family business fully dedicated to nutmegs and the various uses you can make of them from the nuts used as spice to the outer shell pickled or transformed into jam or juice, to the reddish layer covering the inner shell used also as tea or spice or even the ointments and balms using the essential oils extracted from the plant and used to treat bruises aches and various common ailments. The owners will be more than happy to explain about the nutmegs, how to select them, how to transform them and their various uses and properties. Of course homemade nutmeg based products are also available for sale. A nice place to stop when visiting the western coast of...

To access this place from the main road, you need to go down a slope. We came from the direction of Teluk Bahang, and need to slow down before the turn in, as you might miss the signpost. It is not a factory, but a place where you can get all sorts of produces from nutmeg! Outside the shop, you can see the real nutmegs spread out on the table. This place has potential to be developed into a tourist stop by attraction, but it would be difficult for tourist bus to go in, unless the pave and...