Tags: Alcoholic Beverages, Truly Pinoy Food and Drinks
By Edzelle Peña
SAN JUAN, BATANGAS — Aside from the majestic coastline in Laiya and the exceptionally designed potteries in Palahanan, the town of San Juan also takes pride in being one of the major producers of “lambanog” or coconut wine.
Lambanog-making has become a source of livelihood for many locals especially to the residents of Brgy. Calubcub 1st . Conspicuous along the highway are the thousands of coconut trees with distinct bamboo bridges used by tuba gatherers.
As a kid, I used to think people actually lived on top of those trees because the tied bamboos seemed like structures of a house. The bamboo bridges enable tuba gatherers to transfer from one tree to another without having to relentlessly climb up and down.
Lambanog is a popular native drink among Filipinos and is particularly potent. It comes from the sap of a coconut bud, collected and distilled to produce coconut toddy called tuba. This is then cooked carefully to produce lambanog.
During a visit to a nearby coconut plantation, I met 57 year-old Maria Ragil. Ka Maria, as the locals call her, has been “cooking” lambanog for over nine years now. She says she learned the process by just watching some residents cook. Eventually, she was able to adopt the skill and since then, continued making the drink.
Ka Maria shares with me the process of making lambanog. First, 14 pales of tuba or 66 gallons are collected and poured into a big container where it undergoes a distillation process. The tuba is heated. Once the gaseous phase of alcohol liquefies, the juice is allowed to flow onto a container. The liquefied alcohol extracted from tuba is what’s called lambanog. About 20 gallons of lambanog is produced out of 66 gallons of distilled tuba.
The cooking process usually takes eight hours depending on the amount of heat applied. Ka Maria says this can be reduced to just four or five hours if the lambanog needs to be finished quickly. According to her, cooking time doesn’t really affect the taste of the drink.
Lambanog can have an alcoholic content as high as 120-160 proof. It is considered a local drink comparable to moonshine. Its strong, bitter sweet flavor is sure to awaken the taste buds.
During our visit, Ka Aries, a tuba gatherer, offered me a quarter of a glass of lambanog. Although I grew up in San Juan, I have never really tasted this local drink. First, because my father won’t allow me to; and second, I know that it is a hard drink and surely I wasn’t planning on getting drunk very early in the day. Nevertheless, I didn’t let my chance to finally taste it slip by. I took a sip — and boy, was it strong. I thought I felt needles pricking my tongue. I felt a sudden gash of heat traveling through my throat. It kind of tasted like vodka only that it’s a little sweeter and has a bit of a fruity taste.
Aside from the traditional plain lambanog, some provinces have also been selling this drink in different flavors. Among these are melon, mango, black berry and bubble gum. In San Juan, a gallon of lambanog costs P200 to P220.
They say only tough men can withstand the effect of lambanog. If it is so, are you man enough to try?
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i case srudy ko po sna can i have pic how to make lambanog
Good day!
Can you suggest a local manufacturer of Grade A Lambanog which can be used as corporate giveaways? Thank you.
Hoping to hear from you soon.