The great Lambanog review

What’s in a drink? To the people at CITEM (Center for International Trade Expositions & Missions) marketing the latest designer lambanog, everything. It could capture in a nutshell, or shall we say a shot, a distinct aspect of Filipino culture–like balut or the rice terraces. But why lambanog in particular?

"Good question," says Art Dimaano, deputy executive director for operations of CITEM. Why not tuba or basi or tapuy?

"Lambanog is more known than other Pinoy liquors," Dimaano explains, making a pitch for the designer lambanog that was launched late last year at the 2nd Ethnic Food Show held at the Philippine Trade Center complex along Roxas Boulevard.

"The drink itself has been around since the Spanish times," says Alicia Pineda, chief of the agri-marine division, CITEM operations.

It does seem like designer lambanog has been a long time coming, and eventually someone had to think about it.

Three different distillery houses, all based in Quezon province, are involved in the project along with the local government units and the Department of Trade and Industry, under which CITEM is an attached agency.

These three distilleries, which Pineda points out have inherited the trade from their grandparents, are the Mallari, Capistrano and Buncayo distilleries.

The final three were arrived at after screening several companies that would take part in the project, a process which Dimaano calls the "core group approach" so as to maximize limited resources.

While each handblown designer bottle (made from "recycled, environment-friendly materials" we are assured) indicates in which particular distillery the coconut liquor was made, the three distilleries are presently pooling their wine-making facilities to meet the expectant rise in demand as the product hits the world market.

But, Pineda is quick to point out, the three remain distinct in keeping under wraps the family trade secret.

"Several Japanese businessmen expressed interest in the lambanog produced by the Mallari distillery, and went to their factory in Tayabas to work out an export deal," she says.

Dimaano, though he confesses to being a beer drinker, says lambanog is a product of Philippine ingenuity, and that in effect is what CITEM is marketing when it helps promote the Pinoy liquor.

When it was first launched, the lambanog sold at an introductory price of P180, but now is pegged at P220 a 375 ml. bottle in selected outlets.

That’s roughly four dollars in the world market, although CITEM says that the product is also intended for local consumption. It is also a bit steep when compared with the P260 or thereabouts price of the Liliw, Laguna-produced Lamba, which can hold its own against the designer lambanog but is admittedly not as smooth.

Also on the drawing board are flavored versions of the "stainless original" to be launched in the 3rd Ethnic Food Show come November. Pineda says that the flavored lambanog will have infused essences of real fruits–such as pandan, calamansi and mango, the last of which was a hit during a dry run and drink fest last April in five hotels and two restaurants.

Mango lambanog! That’s drink for thought.

And there will be no artificial colors, assures Pineda, unlike some readily available "bubblegum lambanog" which can be bought in convenience stores.

Joy Murillo, a staff of Pineda’s, says the lambanog promotions include tours of bars and hotels. The work is finally bearing fruit.

"Now you can see lambanog being offered as cocktail drinks in bars in Malate, which is good because it’s a local drink," she says, indicating that the nights when vodka and gin reigned supreme in the stainless category were perhaps numbered now.

Dimaano assuringly states that the designer lambanog has "no hangover" and you can be sure it won’t kill you. He adds that there’s a glut of lambanog in the market, but you can never be sure of its quality.

Pineda, a UP food technology graduate, says the three distilleries are strict when it comes to quality control, and as is the custom, do not include the first drops or the tailend of the distilled potion in the final mix, something which is usually reserved for the anitos.

Copy of what can be read on the designer box and bottle:

"It is dawn.

In Southern Luzon, agile men scale

tall coconut trees to harvest

its morning sap. The nectar gathered

from the coconut flower is fermented,

then distilled to make

the potent drink, lambanog.

Pure And Clear Lambanog has the unique slow but assertive trait of a fine alcoholic beverage.

This distilled coconut wine is truly a ‘drinker’s drink’."

Why, reading this text while slowly sipping the lambent drink is enough to make alcoholics of us all. But wait, does this designer lambanog intend to promote alcoholism?

"It’s actually meant to serve as a base for cocktails. Also, it’s been around so long that we thought it’s about time we dressed it up," Pineda says.

To which we can only say cheers, or hic-hic-hooray.