3 Filipino Genuine Wines

Filipinos have no grapes to produce what European wines can do. But that doesn’t mean we cannot produce our very own wine from our own indigenous ingredients.

We have the sugarcane, coconut sap and the rice grains to have our identity of wine. In fact, early Filipinos have been consuming this. Actually they are part of the traditions and customary activities. Early festivities, fiestas, thanksgiving and new year celebration involved the wines of our own.

Weddings, offerings, baptisms among other significant occasions needed the wine in the ceremonies.

Thanks to the abundance of the sugarcane, coconut and rice the wines of Filipinos are produce. Of course, these are aside from the fruits wines usually made from fermenting process.

One thing in common from these wines, they are all organic. Organic but they are strong and tough. Of course, some maybe sweet for the women added with organic ingredients to make it sweet.
So, what are these wines?

BASI. The sugarcane extract that is cooked and aged to become one of the most favorite wine of the lowland Ilocanos. Added with some ingredients like bark of the tree called “kariskis” or the leaves or bark of “samak” tree. Usually the sugarcane juices were put on a clay jar the cover and let it unopen for few months. Some dug it to the ground and wait for years. The more age it has the better the spirit.
There is a war in Ilocos erupted just because the Spaniards tried to monopolize the “basi” wine. This happened during the Spanish colonization to the Philippines in 1800’s.
Now, basi are still produce by few villagers in the rural areas. But numbers of farmers of sugarcane drastically declined and so with the makers of basi. Still, it is still one special wine being produce by the Ilocanos.

TAPEY/BINUBUDAN. The wine that is made from rice grain. Igorots are known to be the expert of these wine. Also the different tribal communities in northern Philippines. Tapey are made by cooking the rice and then fermented and extract the rice juice and made into wine. The juice is called tapey and the cooked rice grain is called binubudan.
Tribal communities use the tapey and binubudan in many of their ceremonies and festivities. Also with their special occasions of their lives. Tapey might be common in upland municipalities but it’s hard to find in the lowland areas.
Because tapey and binubudan is from rice the taste is somewhat not too sour or bitter. In fact, there is a sweetness especially when made by the old women of the certain village.

LAMBANOG. Thanks to the abundance of coconut trees in the southern Luzon of the Philippines the wine called lambanog were produce by the Tagalogs especially in regions 4 and 5 of the country. The wine is made from coconut sap and then age to become a very strong wine. Still very popular in that regions that it is still widely produced by the locals.
Lambanog have been part of the camaraderie and bonding of the villagers during the early times. It is still part of their unwinding and relaxing time.
Lambanog is far the strongest among the tree, marking the tapey as the sweetest.
There are still other kinds of wines in the Philippines because a region and places got their own distinction of wine but these are the most popular one.

Ilocano Rice Wine, Binubodan and Tapey

binubodan

Rice wine comes in two things: the liquid extract which is called 'tapey'; the solid rice which is called binubodan. Both are wine; both went to the same process of fermentation to become the traditional wine of Igorots and Ilocano.

Binubodan and tapey are still widely produced in Ilocandia. Both purposes for special occasions like fiesta or festivals and business purposes being sold during trade fairs and One Town One Product of some towns or municipalities.

Both can make you drunk, either you consume it as an appetizer after or before meal or as drinking pleasure in the evening.

How To Make?

There are different ways of making rice according to tribe, culture or tradition with the two common ingredients which is the regular rice and the fermenting ingredients which we call 'bubod'. The most common processing is this: cooking the regular rice grains. Once cook, place it in a flat platter  or preferably in banana leaves, laying the cooked rice very thin. Sprinkle the pulverized bubod evenly and wait for three days.

tapey

Other ways of making it is mixing the bubod powder and then mash it. Put in a glass jar, secure tightly and wait for three days or more.

The extract or the juice from the fermentation process is the wine called tapey while the fermented rice is the binubodan. Either of them can make you drunk.

Some Tradition

There some superstition belief in making rice wine: some of this include the putting of salt beside the maker (usually old woman) and let it there through the whole process. Another one is not disturbing the maker during the whole process of making. The reason, so the rice spoil don't spoil hard and got the perfect taste of rice wine.