This tale of the early stages of my career in television hosting (today the broadsheets, tomorrow the small screen!) begins innocently enough when a friend asked me if I knew who Jack Maxwell was. “Of course I know him!” I exclaimed like a fan girl. “Booze Traveler!” In case it’s not obvious, I am a big fan of the show. After all, it’s about a lucky guy getting to drink his way around the world. Two of the things I love, travel and booze, in one show? What’s not to love?
I was really excited to find out that the show was coming here and maybe even get to meet Jack, so imagine my elation when my friend recommended me to be his co-host for the Manila leg. They were interviewing other people for the slot (some already had a few bars under their belts and one is a famous personality) and that I would audition via video chat. I wondered what they would ask me. Did I need to show them how much I could drink, or have a drinking contest with the other potential hosts? Images of a western standoff flashed in my mind. But they just asked me about my knowledge of alcohol and the local drinking culture, and my connection to it. I guess I won them over with my babbling and charm, because I got the gig, baby!
Now on its second season, Booze Traveler is a show on the Travel Channel that features Jack Maxwell traveling the world to sample alcoholic beverages and get a sense of a place through the people’s alcohol-based customs. What Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern have done for travel food shows, Jack is doing for alcohol. There are so many specific intricacies of culture shared through drinking traditions. It’s about damn time someone shed light on them. For his trip to the Philippines, he was set to tackle rice wine (tapuy) in Ifugao, coconut wine (lambanog) in Quezon, and sugarcane wine (basi) in Vigan, interspersed with snippets of Manila drinking culture.
They needed an expert to show him around Manila and I was more than happy to give him the tour you won’t find in any pub crawl. We watched (well, I watched and he joined) a neighborhood basketball game in Tondo (the roughest neighborhood in the Philippines) and proceeded to drink some Ginebra Gin (the biggest supplier of gin in the world) in a sari-sari store (Pinoy version of a convenience store). I took him to Quiapo market via jeep to sample some interesting food fare, made him the quintessential gin-pom cocktail, invited him to my bar to sample a couple of cocktails and popped his boodle fight (communal food spread out over banana leaves to be consumed using your hands) cherry.
I don’t want to spoil the whole show so I’ll just share some behind-the-scenes tidbits. I must admit I was a little anxious before I first met Jack since I did not know what to expect. Interestingly enough, when we did finally meet (at the crack of dawn), we didn’t bond over our love of cocktails, but that other kind of liquid elixir: coffee. He seemed pretty game to try out what we had in store for him.
There was no script, just a general outline (shoot in Quiapo; talk about Ginebra Gin), so I didn’t really know what to prepare for. I hoped I could have Google on standby but of course I couldn’t. Once we started rolling, I just had to rely on the alcohol information Rolodex (remember those? Gosh, I’m old…) in my head and run with his questions. I had to think on my feet and answer them as quickly and cleverly as I could. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought because I was talking about something I love and I was drinking while doing it (booze loosens the tongue). The part where I mixed up a pitcher of gin and powdered pomelo juice stands out. It was really hot and the gin-pom was really refreshing, we almost finished the whole pitcher. Let me just say, I love gin; low quality gin, not so much. But I can’t complain. It costs less than a dollar, so I have money left for aspirin.
It was a great experience. I got to share my appreciation and knowledge about booze and I held my own with THE Booze Traveler himself. I do wish I had more time with him so I can try to drink him under the table and put another feather in my cap, but maybe next time.
Filipinos really have a unique drinking culture, built on sharing and camaraderie. We drink when we’re happy, sad, angry, bored, (insert whatever emotion here) and we like to drink with others. We are a very thirsty nation. We are known to be the one of the friendliest people on earth and our drinking culture just exemplifies that. A stranger is invited to take shots and instantly becomes our best friend. If there is one thing great about booze, it truly does bring people together! Our customs and celebrations are formed around that.
Catch the Booze Traveler episode featuring the Philippines titled “Inuman Nature” (so punny) and watch me give Jack Maxwell a taste of Manila’s drinking culture. Cheers!
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