The advantages of keeping things all in the family

THE OLDEST running distillery in the Philippines, Destileria Limtuaco & Co, Inc. — founded in 1852 — just released its newest product: a sparkling sangria.

Maria Clara Sparkling Sangria was launched on June 10 at the Azadore restaurant in Quezon City. It follows the footsteps of older sister Maria Clara Sangria, first blended in 1985 by Julius Limpe, of the fourth generation. His daughter, Olivia Limpe-Aw, now leads the distillery, and is ushering her sons, of the sixth generation, into the company.

“It was created as a tribute to the Filipina woman, and celebrating the spirit of a vibrant blend of resilience, grace, courage, and strength,” said Ms. Limpe-Aw in a speech. Prior to this launch, they had released different variants of her father’s sangria (a wine cocktail of fruit juice and wine). At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, they developed the Maria Clara Virgin Sangria, with 0% alcohol, then followed that up with a Halal-certified mix called Maria Clara Punch. “We believe that every community deserves a seat at the table,” said Ms. Limpe-Aw. The new sparkling sangria has 7% alcohol and is served in a 330-milliliter can.

Ms. Limpe-Aw said that the sparkling version was developed by her sons, whom she introduced: Clifford Limpe-Aw sits as vice-president for operations, Aaron James is executive vice-president, and Brandon serves as national sales manager (and was the DJ for the evening). “This is now their contribution to our Filipino consumers,” she said.

The company is also behind White Castle Whisky and Napoleon VSOP brandy, among other spirits. The company currently has a presence in Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore; with a smaller market in the US and Europe.

“We blend the cocktail, and after we blend it, we carbonate it. It sounds simple, but it’s quite a complex process also,” Ms. Limpe-Aw said of the sparkling sangria.

Meanwhile, Aaron Limpe-Aw discussed why they figured a fizzy drink was the way to go. “We’re going after a younger market for our liquor. More and more, the Philippines has the highest percentage of young people. We’re one of two countries in the world with an average age of about 25 to 26 years. We have to really cater to a younger market.”

Mr. Limpe-Aw unbuttoned his shirt to show off their new line which was printed at the back of his T-shirt: a range of non-alcoholic mixers like ginger ale, tonic, and soda water.

Ms. Limpe-Aw discussed the need for innovation with BusinessWorld, as well as independence from importation, which was the impetus for the creation of the new line of mixers: “We’re importing a lot of these, and I think it’s not too difficult to produce. Why not make it locally?

“Things we can make, we should be making it ourselves,” she said. “If we can make it, there will be less demand for imports.”

THE OLDER, THE BETTER
As with wine, some things just get better with age. The distillery is celebrating its 173^rd year of operations, and the Limpe-Aw family clued us in on how they’ve managed to hold on to the family business for that long.

“We take succession planning very seriously,” said Ms. Limpe-Aw. “We exposed them at a young age. We try to teach them whatever we can, all aspects of the business as they’re growing up, and becoming more mature. They have to really do the rounds in the business.”

Mr. Limpe-Aw (Aaron, again), said, “The trick is really to have the next generation involved, and want to be involved.”

He added, “You have to minimize internal conflict.”

Mother and son discuss the advantages of the company still being family-owned and operated. She said, “You can keep your trade secrets within the family. We’re not pressured to keep on producing for growth. When you want to innovate sometimes, it takes time. We can take our time to come up with new products, processes, and formulations. It’s all within the family. We’re building on what we know… we’re not starting from scratch.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Limpe-Aw said, “We get to talk about things a lot. It (the company) is like a part of the family.

“That makes it more flexible. We get to make decisions very quickly.”

For now, Maria Clara Sparkling Sangria is just available at 7-Eleven stores nationwide. — Joseph L. Garcia

Satomi Mizugishi takes over The Pen’s Bar

LAST FRIDAY, The Peninsula Manila’s bar takeover series featured Satomi Mizugishi, formerly of Singapore’s Jigger & Pony (No. 5 at the World’s 50 Best Bars 2024 and No. 3 at the awards’ 2024 Asian counterpart).

Ms. Mizugishi worked there for two years, and resigned just before they made the announcement. Today, she works as a freelance bar consultant back in Japan. We met her right before her bar takeover on June 13 at The Peninsula’s The Bar.

“Right after COVID, I got sick of being in Japan, because no bartenders were working,” she said, which is why she made the move to Singapore.

“It was my very first time working abroad,” she said of her stint working at the top bar in Singapore. While she had worked with different nationalities in Japan before — Chinese, Koreans, and Swedes — Singapore was more multicultural. “I learned a lot of things from them, like how to work together, with different backgrounds and cultures.”

That’s probably why she hit the sweet spot between traditional Japanese tastes and more cosmopolitan takes for her bar takeover last Friday.

FROM PUNCH TO NEGRONI
She made four drinks for the occasion: a Yuzusco Margarita (Patron Anejo, Sancho Matcha Coinyreau, Yuzusco, agave, and lime), a Tropical Coffee Fizz (Patron Anejo, Bombay Sapphire, pineapple falernum, Kokuto — brown sugar — syrup, cold brew coffee, lemon, and soda), an Elegant Negroni (Bombay Sapphire, Buckwheat Campari, Sweet Vermouth, and port), and the DX-Reggae Punch (Bombay Sapphire, HM peach liqueur, dark oolong tea, Kokuto-ginger syrup, and acid).

We had the Reggae Punch first, a cocktail popular in Japan. It was served with a wafer shaped like a macaron, filled with peach preserve, which you bite into right before taking a sip. In the mouth, the wafer crumbled slowly and filled the mouth with a fruity flavor. The drink itself was mild and delicate, with floral notes and a nice, subtle peach flavor — it was like drinking in the scent of a perfume, Guerlain’s Mitsouko, to be exact.

The Margarita was subtly sour; but an all-grown-up version of the bar favorite. It had heat and chili in the latter stages of the swallow, and the green, savory rimming salt added an edge.

The Negroni was expectedly refined and bitter, while the coffee fizz was a delightful surprise — we usually hate the flavor in drinks, but this one translated to a nutty cocoa note with a light and refreshing edge.

The Bar was busy and we ended the evening past midnight (Ms. Mizugishi passed around a shot before retiring for the night).

A BIT OF HISTORY
Speaking again from her experience at Jigger & Pony, she gave tips on how bars can make it to the top. “You have to make some noise in the industry,” saying that winning competitions and doing exchanges and guest shifts abroad really make a difference.

This is what she’s doing to bars now in Japan, to keep them in shape for the next round of 50 Best selections. “Japan has a longer history of bars, but then Japan is a bit bigger than Singapore; and has more bars maybe, but I see just a few of them on the list.

“The average level they have (of drinks) in Japan is quite high, but sometimes the venue is small; the team is small,” she said.

Her experience, however, goes beyond Jigger & Pony. “I’m not too sure when I started,” she said about mixing drinks, because even as a schoolgirl, she had been mixing sodas and juices for fun, and to taste and capture flavors. She said that her mother also regularly patronized bars: “I was quite inspired by my mom. She’s the one who made me a bartender, as well. She was happy, that like, ‘Now, my daughter’s making cocktails for me!’”

Two more guest bartenders are coming to The Pen this year: in August and in October. — Joseph L. Garcia