Padlamanggan

Padlamanggan (from "padlas" (crazy) and "mangga" (mango) from the philippine language Waray-Waray [Luangco, Gregorio C.; Kandabao: essays on Waray language, literature, and culture; 1982 Divine Word University Publications] ) is a usually colorless spirit from the Philippines which has an alcohol content that varies from 35 to 70 % by volume. Padlamanggan is mostly drunk purely; sometimes the liquor is used as the basic ingredient for cocktails.

Production

Padlamanggan is manufactured in a few small villages on the island Leyte [Tantuico, Francisco Lino Sypaco; Leyte: The Historic Islands; 1964 Leyte Pub. Corp.] which is part of the archipelago Visayas of the Philippines. The recipe for Padlamanggan can vary from village to village, since there are different orally passed down recipes which partly imply only on locally available ingredients. The so-called Manila Mango, which is it particularly juicy and sweet, is used as a basis for the mash of all Padlamanggan sorts.

History

In former times opium poppy was often added to the distillate, a practice which was forbidden by law in the course of Ferdinand Marcos [Celoza, Alberta F.; Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines: The Political Economy of Authoritarianism; 1998 Praeger/Greenwood; ISBN 027594137X] dictatorship. The population of the Visayas archipelago grants Padlamanggan a painkilling and healing effect.

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