Drinking Culture

The central way of drinking in Manila is called Tagay. A group sits in a circle, and a single glass is passed around. A so-called Tanggero, the pourer, refills it before every round. Whoever's turn it is drinks the glass down in one go and passes it on.

Tagay is more ritual than drinking game. Often the Tanggero silently dedicates the first round to the ancestors of the group before anyone drinks at all. This is a remnant of older, animist customs that have blended with the Catholic everyday life of the Philippines.

What's usually drunk is the round Bilog bottle of Ginebra San Miguel. It's often neat, or with just a splash of water and ice, less often mixed into a drink. In the bars of the Poblacion nightlife district in Makati, right next to Manila, this street tradition now meets craft cocktails, where Gin and Tonic and Martinis appear on the menu.

Between these two worlds sits the sari-sari store, the small neighborhood kiosk found on almost every street corner. At its counter, Ginebra San Miguel flows by the liter, usually measured out into small plastic cups. This mostly happens after work, often with five people around a plastic table on the sidewalk, not far from Quiapo.

So Manila exists as two drinking cities at once, and both, in the end, share the same bottle. One is loud and communal, with its Tagay out on the street. The other is a rising bar scene around Poblacion, which turns the same gin, sometimes new craft brands too, into long drinks and cocktails.