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Fermentation Atlas

Alcoholic drinks from Eastern Visayas, Philippines

Bahalina (aged red-bark tuba)bahalina

Bahalina is tuba, coconut sap fermented with chopped red mangrove bark (barok or tungog), that has been racked off its sediment week by week and then aged for a year or more. The bark turns the sap red and astringent, and with time the wine grows stronger, from about 7 % alcohol fresh to about 10–14 %. Made in 5 steps over 12 months. The longest step, age into bahal and bahalina, takes at least 12 months (Agaton S.I.G. 2022). Yeasts, which outnumbered bacteria in fresh tuba does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 12 monthsReported[agaton2022]Age into bahal and bahalina
Temperature27 °CMeasured[fernandez1980]Fresh tuba ferments
AciditypH 4.4–5Measured[fernandez1979]Fresh tuba ferments

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo fixed amounts. Gatherers in Leyte add bark by eye, and the buyer (alpor) pools sap from many gatherers to age it.
Coconut sap · Dripped from the sliced tip of an unopened coconut spathe into small containers[agaton2022][fernandez1979]
Barok or tungog bark (Ceriops tagal), dried and chopped (to the maker's judgement) · Too much makes the tuba very bitter; too little leaves it unfinished[agaton2022][fernandez1979]
Starter: spontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 12 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Sap drips from the sliced coconut flower spathe into a tied-on container

Step 1 of 5
Tap the coconut spathe
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts

The containers are tied on early in the morning and the sap is gathered at the end of the day. Output: fresh coconut sap.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Plain palm wine is drunk within a day or two and soon sours. Bahalina adds tannin-rich mangrove bark, is racked clear and is aged in jars filled to the top for a year or more, so it keeps and grows stronger.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Fresh tubaDrunk the day it is gathered, sweet and about 7 % alcohol.
  • BahalTuba aged about six months.
  • Lambanog toddyCoconut sap fermented without bark, pearly white, 4.25–6.6 % alcohol and pH 3.6–4, then distilled into lambanog.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Tuba gathering is a daily trade in Leyte, passed down by gatherers (mananggiti) who tap in the morning and sell the sap in the afternoon. Aged bahalina once went into glass demijohns; most makers now use plastic jugs.

  1. [agaton2022] Agaton S.I.G. 2022, The tuba culture in Leyte, Philippines, Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal 10(2), doi:10.32871/rmrj2210.02.01 (oral history; citing Sanchez 2008, Philippine Fermented Foods, for alcohol content)paper
  2. [fernandez1979] Fernandez W.L., Altoveros N.C., Oldan C.F. 1979, Plate counts of freshly-gathered tuba and lambanog toddy, NRCP Research Bulletin 34, University of the Philippines Los Baños (AGRIS abstract)paper
  3. [fernandez1980] Fernandez W.L., Alagad C.K. Jr., Casilang R.R. 1980, The alcohol content, total titratable acidity, pH and microbial count of tuba stored at four temperatures one week, Philippine Agriculturist 63 (AGRIS abstract)paper
  4. [WP:Philippine wine] Wikipedia, Philippine wine (outline only)wiki