They're fond of drinking sessions or "tagay".

Tagay is the local term for alcohol-drinking session. Filipinos drink to get drunk but even then, there is decorum to it. You sit around a table with only one big bottle of beer and one drinking glass. Each person takes turns drinking one glass bottoms up.

A "gunner" typically does not drink during tagay. Instead, he pours a drink for everyone. When you are offered a drink at tagay, never refuse it, unless if you want to be known as snobbish or "arte".

Filipino Drinking Session

Filipinos love to have a good time. One of the best ways they do this is by drinking. But unlike the typical drinking session you know, Filipinos do it in a different way. First we need to understand how Filipinos drink. It’s not the usual type where you have your own glass or you have your own bottle. They share one glass and it is passed around in circle. The glass is filled-up by the Tanggero (tang-ge-ro). His job is to put liquor on the glass and remember whose turn is it.

Drinking in a circle and sharing the glass is a sign of brotherhood and equality among the group. Even if they can only afford to buy one bottle of beer, they will still share it and thus showing the modesty and their love for camaraderie.It is started by the tanggero throwing a small amount of liquor on the ground. It is a Filipino superstitious belief that offering a small amount of liquor will make your celebration safe and merrier.

Most Filipinos don’t have the luxury of buying expensive liquor or drinks; they usually buy the most affordable in the market. I’m going to show you some of the most common drinks available and also how they drink it.

Common brands of beer bought here in the Philippines are the San Miguel Beer and the Red Horse Beer. These are usually bought in a 1 liter bottle (but they have small bottle sizes as well). The beer is then transferred to a jug with ice and is served on a glass by the tanggero.

San Miguel Beer and Red Horse Beer

Ginebra with different flavors of powdered juice
Aside from beer, Gin is also very affordable in the market. Right now there are a lot of brands but Ginebra San Miguel is still the best choice among Filipino drinkers. It is usually drank as a cocktail or with chaser. Most common term you might hear is the Ginpo, it is a combination of Gin with Pomelo juice and the Ginapple which is Gin with pine apple juice (Other flavors can still be used). The juice used is just the powdered type in sachets that is mixed in a liter of water. For the hard core drinkers, they drink Gin with just water as a chaser or non at all.

Brandy is also very common here in the Philippines, although each brand is quite different in terms of price and flavor, the most common and the most affordable in the market is the Emperador and Matador brandy. These are also the brands preferred by most Filipino drinkers. Brandy is drank usually with a chaser and the most common chaser is the powdered iced tea.

I’m going to list down the most common Pulutan served when Filipinos drink. The food listed are based on their affordability and popularity.

Tuna and Sky Flakes

Tuna-skyflakes is a common pulutan among Filipinos. Tuna (flakes in oil variety) is mixed with crushed Sky Flakes (a Filipino cracker/biscuit).

Chicharon is pork skin deep fried until crispy. Usually served with vinegar, this is one of the most common pulutan here.

Cornick is deep fried corn. It can easily be purchased on small stores anywhere in the country. For just P1 per pack, it is can be considered as one of the most affordable pulutan.

Sisig, as mentioned in Sinful Filipino Dishes hub, this pulutan is very popular among Filipinos.

Drinking is usually accompanied by singing. The best way to this is to have a videoke. Filipinos love to sing. This makes the celebration more vibrant and fun.

Filipinos are a very happy people. We love to eat. We love to sing. We love celebrations. We love life. We love to live life to the fullest. Part of living this life is how we celebrate things.

So if you want to experience the Filipino way of celebrating, just come here and maybe you can be the next tanggero for our session.

I am neither endorsing any product here nor the idea of drinking itself. I am just giving information about the culture of Filipinos and how they celebrate life with family and friends.