Papo Js: The Philippine vodka the world should taste

By Marivir R. Montebon

(This article was written and published first for the Cebu State Magazine – maiden issue in April 2023.)

New York - The hard-hitting kick of the Philippine lambanog (coconut vodka) may just be a drop in the bucket of America’s billion-dollar alcohol drink industry. But its inroads to the US is giving the vast market here the hang of its distinctive taste, which is quite different from the English rum or the Russian vodka.

David ‘Papo’ Osmena

Papo Js Philippine Lambanog vodka was created in 2018 by three friends - Filipino-AmericansDavid Osmena and Mike Borja, and Hong Kong-based Jota Shohtoku, their American Japanese friend. It has taken an easy breezy glide in liquor stores and Asian food markets in California.

Eighty-proof and bottled in Quezon province in the Philippines, Papo Js has now reached the states of Virginia, Massachusetts, and soon, Arizona. Clear and crisp, the Papo Js goes well with coconut water or with calamansi (Philippine lemon) and ice.

“The US market is so vast, and competition is unknown, doing business is actually fun. We are enjoying it,” quipped David Osmena, a native of Cebu who immigrated to LA at the age of seven. Together with his two friends who met in an environmental service company, Osmena set up the P&P Osmena Corp. to import Philippine lambanog.

Their joint venture started with their shared love for the taste of lambanog as pasalubong (gifts) of friends coming back from the Philippines.

“We loved those pasalubong lambanog and decided to go into the import business. Mike and I are mostly in the US running the business while Jota who’s in Hong Kong usually does the linkage with the production,” said Osmena in an interview.

Papo Js market is a broad age spectrum of the matured crowd of lolos and titos who savor the familiar good old lambanog in their homeland. They also have the adventurous young FilAms and non-Filipino friends who love it.

In 2019, Papo Js Philippine Lambanog Vodka won a silver award in the vodka category by the Bartender Spirits Awards with 88 points. In 2020, it bagged the gold award by the same industry organization with 95 points, besting over more than a hundred entries.

The Bartender Spirits Awards is a nationwide competition of wine, beer, and spirits on the on-premises industry initiated by the Beverage Trade Network and judged by prestigious bartenders, managers, and influential buyers for the on-premises industry in the US. For 2023, the Bartender Spirits Awards will take place in San Francisco in May.

Papo Js is the Philippine vodka the world should taste: David Osmena

Lambanog comes from coconut nectar which is harvested by coconut farmers (mananangot) who prune the coconut flowers and drip their sap into a bamboo receptacle for at least a day.

Usually on the following day, the farmers collect the sap from the receptacles and store and ferment these in drums for a couple of days to produce become the frothy red tuba (coconut wine). The tangy tuba is patiently distilled to become the fierce tasting lambanog.

Lambanog production has remained cottage in size, until sometime in 2001, the Philippine government saw its export potential. Developmental research was done to pave the way for local distilleries.

Since its inception in 2018, Papo J has been distilled by a woman-owned distillery in the town of Candelaria in Quezon. “Our process is all natural. No added sugars and other additives. And coconuts don’t need fertilizers or pesticides, so all you get is all nature and its benefits. And we also help sustain the local economy,” said Osmena.

The coconut industry in Quezon is looking at a vast global market for its ‘Philippine spirit’ in the lambanog. The Philippines is the world’s second largest producer of coconut, next to Indonesia.

Although the industry is beset with problems on capital, production technology, and justiciable earnings for coconut farmers, the untapped market remains a lucrative promise for local incomes.

But importers have their woes too. Osmena said that importing bottled lambanog from the Philippines has become costly for their part, hence his company is looking at shipping the liquor in bulk and bottling it in the US.

“But we are torn because bottling in the US would have economic downsides on the Filipino producers. So, we are putting that on hold. But the market is so vast, we can only scale up,” said Osmena.

Lambanog making in the Philippines is as ancient as the Irish made their scotch.  In the precolonial past, lambanog was distilled by native herbalists for medication.  Those who tried drinking the lambanog love it for its taste and the absence of a hangover.

“It’s the sweet nectar of the gods!” exclaims John Rice and Andy at Pardon my Fork writes: “I’m not sure what to even say. It is so incredibly unique. A ton of flavor.”

For business owner Osmena, “lambanog is amazing. The world should be able to taste it.” #

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