7 Filipino-inspired drink recipes you need to make
Here are seven Filipino-inspired cocktails worth making this weekend. Each one takes a familiar flavor and builds it into a structured drink format. From spirit-forward to tropical and dessert-driven, this lineup keeps things balanced and intentional. If you’re looking to explore Filipino flavors in a practical way, start here.
Cheers, y’all!
This was a labor of love 🇵🇭🫰🏽
In my ongoing quest to make my childhood Filipino desserts into a cocktail, may I present the Buko Pandan — a coconut/pandan clarified daiquiri variation topped with an ube-coconut foam. This was a love letter to my childhood growing up in the Philippines and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to share it with those who attended this Kamayan for @chswineandfood.
ingredients:
1 oz | 30 ml Trois Rivières Cuvée de L’Océan Agricole
½ oz | 15 ml Wray and Nephew (Overproof)
1 oz | 30 ml Unfiltered Coconut Water
¾ oz | 22.5 ml Pandan Syrup
¾ oz | 22.5 ml Lime Juice
1 oz | 30 ml Whole Milk (for clarification)
Ube Foam
Toasted Coconut (Garnish)
—
Ube Foam (iSi)
100ml condensed milk
100ml evaporated milk
50ml coconut pressed juice
50g Egg White or Super Foam
5 drops Ube extract
Sea salt
instructions:
Scaled Recipe (for 70 Servings)
75.00 oz/2218.01 ml Trois Rivières Cuvée de L'Ocean Agricole
37.50 oz/1109.01 ml Wray and Nephew Overproof
56.25 oz/1663.51 ml Lime Juice
56.25 oz/1663.51 ml Pandan Syrup
75.00 oz/2218.01 ml Unfiltered Coconut Water
75.00 oz/2218.01 ml Whole Milk (For Clarification)
What if we made this iconic Filipino street food into a cocktail?
Together with my friends at @tanduayrum, I’ve taken one of my favorite Filipino street foods and found a way to make it into a cocktail. Banana-cue is an iconic Filipino dish made with Saba bananas, that are fried with dark brown sugar to form a crispy, caramel coating. The piping hot caramelized bananas are then skewered with bamboo and eaten to-go. It’s a sweet, savory snack that I figured would be fitting with Tanduay Gold Rum - an iconic Filipino rum thats been around so long that my dad used to drink it back in the Philippines when he was my age :D
This is one of the best cocktails I’ve made this year, and the secret (besides the rum) is the Saba banana oleo saccharum, if you want the recipe sent to your inbox, comment ‘OLEO’ and I’ll send it over in the form of a recipe card so you can save it to your camera roll.
Cheers y’all!
ingredients:
2 oz | 60 ml Tanduay Gold Rum
½ oz | 15 ml Banana-cue Oleo
½ oz | 15 ml Banana Liqueur
5 Dashes Angostura Bitters
5 Drops Saline
Banana Leaf (Garnish)
Banana-Cue (Garnish)
instructions:
Combine all ingredients in mixing glass and stir with ice. Pour and strain in a rocks glass over a large cube. Garnish with a hot banana-cue and banana leaf.
This Filipino-inspired recipe hits real close to home for me.
#PatronPartner This year, I’ve once again teamed up with @patron to bring awareness to #AAPIHeritageMonth. If you’ve seen the #AAPI acronym floating around, it stands for Asian-American/Pacific Islander. Patrón has always done an amazing job at highlighting the society and culture of #AAPI bartenders and industry professionals and I’m honored to be part of this initiative.
Together with Patrón, I created a cocktail recipe inspired by my Filipino upbringing and culture. This recipe utilizes a prominent southeast-asian ingredient: Ube, a purple root vegetable similar to sweet potato but a touch sweeter. This particular flavor profile of coconut, ube, and milk reminds me of cooking ube inspired desserts with my Lola when I still lived in the Philippines. Call it a homage, of sorts, I call it delicious and nostalgic. #ad21+ #PatronTequila 🇵🇭
ingredients:
1½ oz | 45 ml Reposado Tequila
½ oz | 15 ml Fresh Lime Juice
½ oz | 15 ml Agave Syrup (1:1)
½ oz | 15 ml Coconut Cream
1 oz | 30 ml Ube Evaporated Milk
Ube Dust Garnish
Shaved Coconut Garnish
instructions:
Combine ingredients (except garnishes) in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain over pebble ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with a dusting of Ube powder and shaved coconut . Serve and enjoy.
Filipino-inspired drinks have my ❤️🇵🇭
That’s why I’m so excited to work together with @drinkspindrift to add two original N/A recipes to their new coffee-table recipe book called “Tastes of Home” - inspired by chefs/mixologists from around the country sharing their unique culinary traditions, recipes and stories. The best news is I’ll be giving away FIVE (5) of these books (check out the link in my stories for more info). #SpindriftPartner Now on to the recipe:
This recipe takes me back to the Philippines, the traditional pairing of coconut (or “buko” in Tagalog) and pandan (a sweet herb with notes of vanilla) are a match made in heaven for desserts. I remember my Lola (grandma) would make a non-alcoholic version using fresh coconuts, condensed milk and pandan jelly. This is my take on that as an elevated non-alcoholic drink. #ad21+
Cheers y’all!
ingredients:
2 oz | 60 ml Unfiltered Coconut Water
½ oz | 15 ml Pandan Syrup
¾ oz | 22.5 ml Lime Juice
1 Pinch Smoked Salt
Top with Spindrift Lime
Toasted Coconut (Garnish)
Lime Wheel (Garnish)
instructions:
Combine all ingredients except for Spindrift in a shaking tin with ice. Shake and strain into a Collin’s glass filled with crushed or pebble ice. Top with Spindrift Lime. Garnish with toasted coconut and a lime wheel. Serve and enjoy.
Another labor of love 🌽🇵🇭
You know what they say about corn… it has the juice. This is an homage to one of my favorite Filipino street desserts, maís con yelo. I developed this recipe for a Kamayan dinner with my friends at @kulturacharleston, @kaya.orlando and @naks.nyc for @chswineandfood this year. It turned out to be one of my favorite cocktails I’ve ever made just because it brought me back to my childhood in the Philippines.
Hope y’all enjoy this as much as I did making it.
Cheers y’all.
ingredients:
1 oz | 30 ml Capitan Andes Cream Sherry (Lustau)
½ oz | 15 ml Nixta
2 oz | 60 ml Corn Milk
Corn Flakes
Condensed Milk
Smoked Flaky Salt
Served over shaved or pebble ice
Optional: Black Strap Rum Float
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CORN MILK
—
1200g Corn Kernels
1000g/32 oz Corn Water
14 oz Condensed Milk
500g/16 oz Sweetened Coconut Milk (Silk)
10g Sea salt
—
Instructions: Separate corn kernels from cob. Simmer cobs in water for 10 mins and remove. Add corn kernels and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove and strain (keep corn “broth”). In a blender, add corn water, and kernels and blend until smooth. Add condensed milk and coconut milk and blend again until silky. Adjust to taste if needed (it should be on the sweet side). Bottle and store in fridge until service.
inSTRUCTIONS:
Add all ingredients except corn flakes and condensed milk into a shaking tin with ice. Shake and strain over crushed or pebble ice (although traditionally served over shaved ice). Garnish with corn flakes, top with condensed milk. Serve with a spoon.
An ode to my Filipino grandmother (Nanay) 🥃🇵🇭
You know when you try a particular food or drink it just takes you back to place and time in your life or childhood? This is it for me. This recipe’s flavors reminds me of my Nanay (Tagalog for ‘mom’ - she was everyone’s mom) and her famous leche flan. She would make this recipe for every special occasion and it was always a crowd favorite. What set it apart was the incredible amount of balance in flavors, between the massive amount of lime zest in the condensed milk custard (think souped up key lime) and a caramel sauce that was just brought past caramelization, bringing a sweet, but nutty element to table. I’m honored to be able to create something to pay homage to those flavor profiles and the nostalgia that comes along with it.
I’ve been covering the @chswineandfood going on seven years, but this year but I knew this year was special when I was asked to be a participant for a signature dinner with my friends at @pinkbellies and the world famous @pawkhrua. I knew this had to make on the menu along with some other recipes that I can’t wait to show y’all. Our event is tomorrow, so make sure you’re following along on the accounts mentioned above and @chswineandfood. If you’re going to make it to any other CHSWF events, let me know which ones!
Cheers y’all!
ingredients:
2 oz | 60 ml Bourbon
½ oz | 15 ml Burnt Sugar Syrup
5-6 Dashes Angostura Bitters
Caramelized Lime Wheel (Garnish)
Grated Lime Zest (Garnish)
inSTRUCTIONS:
Combine all ingredients except garnish in a mixing glass with ice. Stir, strain and pour the cocktail over a large ice cube and add the garnish.
