Outside strictly Muslim areas in the south, drinking is basic to Filipino social life, and vast quantities of beer, gin, and rum are consumed. Local gin and whisky are cheap but inferior. The hot climate is conducive to beer drinking, and the ubiquitous San Miguel is excellent. Competition comes from Asia breweries.
Manila has numerous open-air beer gardens.
Several kinds of homemade beverages are prevalent in rural areas. Gatherers climb nutless trees twice a day to collect the sap emanating from the lopped-off, growing tip of the tree in bamboo tubes. Tuba can also be made from the sap of buri and nipa palms. In prime coconut provinces, such as Laguna and Quezon, the sap is also distilled into lambanog, a potent liquor. The Ybanag of the Cagayan Valley make layaw, a very strong corn spirit.