GINuman na! Enjoy the summer with Ginebra San Miguel's events and new flavors!

‘Gindependence Day’ invites all to join the revolution

to a new Philippine gin culture

Ms. Millet Liberato of DDB, once again, invited me to the launch of Ginebra San Miguel's GINdependence day at URBN Bar Quezon City. GSM has always been known as a leader in the gin industry. For more than 100 years, GSM has provided some of the best tasting gin mixes to the mass market. This success has prompted GSM to continue striving for innovation and cater to more premium markets. In essence, GSM aims to connect with a wider audience and improve the gin experience as a whole. It also calls for a new revolution in the gin market. As they say, the time for gin is now!

This grand celebration of sorts showcased the variety of events hosted by GSM all throughout the summer to signify its break with tradition and thus welcome something new. This time around, GSM has 5 events especially made for its consumers and fans. 

1. GANADO SA BUHAY THEMATIC CAMPAIGN

While Ginebra Gin has always been loved and cherished by older working-class Filipinos, GSM rises up to the challenge in taking on a younger market with its "Ganado" campaign. This will be done through a well-made TVC that shows a young Filipino OFW who has to leave his family in order to provide for them while abroad. The drama that unfolds shows how GSM soothes even the most painful situations in a persons life, especially when it involves "Sepanx" or separation anxiety. This story shows how GSM plays an important role when it comes to handling realities in life.

2. GIN NATION CARAVAN

Apart from the TVC, GSM aims to express the Ganado spirit through the  Gin Nation Roving Caravan. This campaign will introduce GSM to more and more Filipinos regardless of age and demographic. A truck will be roving around the metro’s hottest events and destinations like Mercato Centrale, Maginhawa Food Street, school events and concerts.  Together with the truck, Ginebra San Miguel also formulated five mixes that everyone can enjoy: Manila Sunrise, Blue Fizz, Mojito Slush, Sweet Lemony Martini and All Nighter. Each mix is tailor-fit for everyone’s taste. 

Apart from the truck and unique mixes, GSM will complete the drinking experience by adding acoustic performers that will give entertainment to the “Ganado” market. Like the “Ginebra San Miguel” Facebook page (www.facebook.com/barangayginebra) for details and schedules.

3. GINUMANFEST CONCERT SERIES

Through the Ginumanfest Concert Series, GSM aims to bring top bands and performers this summer season to various events and places from Luzon to Mindanao. GSM also plans to show people the new varieties of its drinks to people attending these events. This campaign will be the biggest festival road show in the category covering destinations from Luzon to Mindanao. This is another festive year for the country and GSM is excited to share the fun with Filipinos everywhere.

4. GINEBRA SAN MIGUEL 3 ON 3 TOURNAMENT

Basketball has been an integral part of the Ginebra brand. Hence, GSM will be going around different barangays to host a three-on-three competition where anyone above the age of 18 can participate. All they need to do is collect GSM Blue caps or Ginebra San Miguel seals to join with three of their friends.

These Barangay teams will battle it off to be their area’s representative for the national championships. The top 16 teams from the identified areas will face-off against one another in a championship tournament that will determine this year’s three-on-three national champion.

The inaugural qualifier will happen on March 12 at Santolan, Pasig City. Teams from Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan Laguna, Quezon Province, Cavite, Bulacan, Quezon City, Mandaluyong, Paranaque, Rizal, Pasay City, Cebu, Davao and Bacolod will have their respective qualifiers until May 7. The winning team from each area will get P3,000 plus GSMI products and a once in a lifetime chance to play for the national championships. Like the “Ginebra San Miguel” Facebook page, for more exciting news on this event.

GSM BLUE: Embrace the new

GSM recognizes the need to adapt to the changing times by embracing the tastes of the youth. These days, the latter wants more and more adventure and YOLO. Ginebra San Miguel aims to be part of this market, hence, it changed the look and formula of GSM Blue. The contemporary look has been updated to capture the curiosity of the young. Its fresh citrus aroma invigorates the sense of smell and a sip of the enhanced GSM Blue will leave you speechless because of its distinct smoothness and light taste. Straight up or mixed, the new GSM Blue is the ideal drink to bring life to all your explorations wherever you are and whoever you are with.

GSM Blue will be invading the favorite destinations of our millennial target market. From La Union, Baler, Zambales, Laguna and all the way to Boracay, expect to find GSM Blue’s unique concoctions. From sampling booths, special lounges where you can hang with your friends under the sun, to being creative with our Ink for Drinks activity where you get free drinks for every henna tattoo, GSM Blue will give you an experience worth sharing on your social media feed. #YOLO #GSMBlue and #Adventure are the few themes you will see this summer from our brand. It's time to go on an adventure with GSM Blue, the spirit that is easy to drink and easy to mix.

To further hype up #YOLO and #Adventure, GSM Blue will fly 5 friends for free to the hottest summer destination, Boracay. Participants should post a photo of your tropa adventures with the new GSM Blue on Facebook and Instagram. Use the hashtag #GSMBlueSummerAdventure. The post with the most number of likes wins a 3D&2N Boracay Trip for 5. Winners will get to experience exhilarating activities such as zorb, ATV, cliff diving, parasailing, helmet diving and party all night on the labor day weekend.

GSMI will also be holding its annual Blueniversity Bar Mixing event where Hotel and Restaurant Management students from different universities can participate to show off their mixing and bartending skills. Students from different schools will face off on March 7, 2016 and the winner will be given a chance to represent the country in an international competition. This is another activity that proves the brand’s close ties with the younger market. GSM Blue can truly take you places.

GINEBRA SAN MIGUEL PREMIUM GIN: Elevate your taste

Ginebra San Miguel Premium Gin is GSMI’s champion product for reaching out to a more upscale market. While much of our company’s success has been founded on the large-scale popularity of Ginebra San Miguel gin among the mass market, 2016 marks our brand’s expansion into a whole new territory.

Our strategy for Ginebra San Miguel Premium Gin is to position it in a space that is inherently premium and upscale in itself—the Arts and Culture space.  By taking from the rich history and culture of the Ginebra San Miguel brand and mixing it with modern, contemporary design, we are able to bring relevance and uniqueness to Ginebra San Miguel Premium Gin, which we strongly believe would have a natural appeal to our new target market.

We envisioned the Black Fleet as being the exclusive vehicle of Ginebra San Miguel Premium Gin drinkers. Going from one partner bar establishment to another, our Black Fleet passengers will be given the opportunity to sample different ways to enjoy Premium Gin in different settings. In designing the Black Fleet, we made sure that all aspects of it would mirror what we see Ginebra San Miguel Premium Gin to be—a sleek, premium experience. Headed straight for all the best bars in the metro, we guarantee that a ride in the Black Fleet is a ride to a great night. 

The Gin Cart is Ginebra San Miguel Premium Gin’s take on Ginebra San Miguel’s Gin Nation Roving Caravan. We believe that the premium drinks vehicle showcases our brand’s elevated design aesthetic and readiness for a new, upscale market.

Much thought and consideration were put into designing the Premium Gin cart. For materials, we chose wood and black metal in order to give the cart a rustic, local feel. In terms of the actual wood design, it was crucial for us to showcase the iconic Ginebra San Miguel logo, which is actually one of Fernando Amorsolo’s earliest recognized works.

The Premium Gin cart offers a mix of both artisanal and experimental cocktails. To keep things fresh and innovative, unexpected ingredients will be part and parcel of the cocktail recipes, including items like bacon and tomato juice.

The Premium Gin Cart will make its public debut in the 2016 edition of Art Fair Philippines on February 19 and 20 at The Link, Makati City.

WORLD GIN DAY ACTIVITY: END OF SUMMER

As the culminating event of the entire summer season, Ginebra San Miguel will be joining worldwide celebrations of World Gin Day on June 11. For this special day, the brand will be treating audiences to the country’s hottest acts and performers. This will be an event to look forward to with performers like Quest, Calalilly, Banda ni Kleggy, Arci Munoz and many more. Gin11 will be partying simultaneously with the world as we celebrate World Gin Day here in the Philippines.

IN CONCLUSION: The new flavor of GSMI

GSMI has started to open up new horizons with its newest variants and its freshest activities. In the near future, GSMI will surely become a well-loved drink along the youth and the upper classes of society.

The story in pictures:

Calalily performed that night!

Some of Ginebra's top executives.

The party getting started.

The bar mixing challenge

The Ginebra Premium display.

The stage!

A sip from a good concoction of GSM.

The party!

Summer is actually finished, so why still party?

Summer IS actually finished, however why you must still have an EDM celebration near the beach?

Photo courtesy of 8tracks.com

5. The Encounter

Experiencing a raves celebration live differs any type of performance encounter in this globe. You will certainly not remain in a lengthy coast line. You will certainly be outdoors, delighting in the fresh air in order to great beach ambience, as well as you will certainly be taking in an ambience that is incomparable.

4. Wearing Funky beach Clothes

You will certainly have the ability to use clothing at celebrations that you would generally not use other time of the year. If you have actually ever before had a look at the clothing individuals where at celebrations such as Coachella, these are the attire that will certainly serve at raves celebrations almost everywhere. There are no regulations when it pertains to beach outfit, so create something imaginative, in order to something that will certainly make you attract attention.

3. Being on the Beach

Among the very best factors for participating in a beach raves celebration is the happiness of being beach during throughout the occasion. Throughout this cooler wet month where you typically remain interior, it will certainly be enjoyable to be on the beach, you will certainly have the ability to allow the sunlight kiss your face the Second time around in a cooler way, as well as take in the fresh air as your preferred band or DJ rocks the stage for the hundreds of raves followers that will certainly be amongst you.

2. Make Friends

beach raves celebrations are participated in by crowds of similar raves followers. If you go to a c and w celebration, compared to you will certainly be around c and w followers. If you go to an EDM celebration, you will certainly be amongst EDM followers. The factor is, these celebrations will certainly be the best premises making first time relationships that will certainly last for a life time. Or a minimum of up until the celebration mores than.

1. The Rave

You're there for the raves, why else would certainly you be going to a rave celebration? Sure there are more and more parts to a beach celebration like fine arts in order to crafts, however the raves is the primary reason that you need to be going to the celebration, as well as raves merely seems so far better exterior.

So party with us at Sunburn Music Festival this coming August 27, 2016 at Pangasinan. Do visit http://sunburnmusicfest.com/ for updates and details!

Naimas: a taste of Home in the heart of Makati

        Aldous of aldousatetheworld.com never really stops with his foodie endeavors. Now he invited me to Naimas, an Ilocano themed restaurant in the heart of Metro Manila's business district, Makati. Upon entering, I found the place to have a rustic, country-style ambience that gives diners a feel of Ilocano home cooking. 

          Let me show you the place in pictures: 

The Logo.

Naimas has a lot on its menu. Note that they all serve Filipino favorites.

These home themed plaques represent the good things about food and family.

The rustic dining area.

Some random pictures.

The ambient outdoor dining area.

Pancit Canton at Php 250. This delectable Filipino favorite comes packed with lots of toppings such as bagnet, string beans, shrimps, squid balls, carrots, cabbage, and pancit. The dish didn't taste like an MSG overload. It had more of a mild savory flavor which combined the toppings in a very tasty way.

As a meat lover, I found their Adobong Baboy Ramo very satisfying to my palate. It came packed with a spicy garlic sauce. The meat was a bit tough though; but that didn't stop me from devouring it to the bone. It's a bit pricey though at Php 320 pesos. 

The pinatisang baka was also excellent. It was priced at Php 340 pesos. This dish is composed slightly salty beef cubes cooked in dried fish sauce. The meat was very tinder and easy to chew.

Seafood lovers would have an overkill with Adobong hipon sa aligue. At Php 340, this dish is composed of sauteed shrimp cooked in crab fat and garnished with onions. I certainly enjoyed the shrimps for its fatty and juicy texture and taste.

These are some Ilokano sauces and wines for sale.

The Gisaeng Balut costs Php 220. I didn't try it though due to my intense aversion for Balut.

The Guising-guising is a vegetable paradise floating in coconut milk. This dish, costing Php 220, is a heavenly mix of the vegetable with pork bits and cocount milk. It's extremely spicy though; but I still love it.

The Sizzling Litid is a fat rich goodness composed of beef tendon fried in a heap of hot oil. At 250 pesos, it's pretty solid if paired with hot rice and a cold drink. And not to mention that people who have lots of bad cholesterol have to avoid this. But I don't. And I find this dish to be the epitome of fat during the night.

Sinampalukang Kambing at Php 300. This dish is for those who love exotic Philippine meat like goat. The sauce is great though. I never knew that goat would make an excellent dish.

The halo-halo at Php 180 and the Turon na Saba at Php 110 served as our desserts. I like the fact that these dishes aren't too sweet like their street food counterparts. Kudos to their wonderful and picturesque presentations as well.

Naimas is located at CAP Building, Amorsolo St., Makati City. You can visit their FB page at https://www.facebook.com/naimasrestaurant.

Mr. Churros: the newest premium Churros place in Quezon City

         Churros has become a wildly popular dessert item these days. True enough, the owners of Mr. Churros have capitalized on this new fad by opening up a branch at Tomas Morato, Quezon City. One of them actually lived in the U.S. and learned to master the art of making this wonderful dessert. He even made innovations of this dish by serving it as a cake or even with ice cream.

          As a dessert lover, I naturally never passed up with this wonderful opportunity. Hence, I went with Aldous and the gang to the place.

           The story in pictures:

We went to their first day in the venue.

One word to describe their dessert

The counter

They also serve coffee.

The artistic menu wall.

Their ice cream churros.

The deep frying machine for the dough.

One of the owners cooking churros.

Their promotional flyers.

          Their basic plain churros at Php 60 pesos for 5 piece and Php 80 pesos for 8 pieces. I especially loved the fact that it wasn't dripping with oil. It was also served hot because it was prepared in the spot. Add to that the tasty dark chocolate dip and you have a dessert that you'd love any day, anytime. The owners also take pride in the fact that they only use premium and fresh ingredients to create really cheap churros. Imagine that size of churros for Php 60 pesos?! Wow! Who wouldn't want to eat 20 of those in one sitting? The dip comes with an additional 20 pesos.

The counter.

Ah this magnificent beauty is the Blueberry churros cheesecake. It comes for Php 700 for an entire cake. Since I'm such a huge blueberry fan, I spent no time devouring it. For the first time in my life, I found that churros and cake do come together naturally. The hot churros complements the icy cake, while the blueberry topping serves as the taste dip in lieu of the chocolate sauce. The cake was prepared using only the finest ingredients such as blueberry sauce and cream cheese.

I can finish that cake in one sitting haha.

Another shot of the plain churros.

We were on our way to finishing the cake.

One more shot.

For a sweetness overload, you can try the Classic Churros with Cinnamon Sugar. It usually served without the sauce because the sugar already provides much of the sweetness. Call that a lure for sweet tooths!

For someone who wants their churros with a lot of chocolate, he can try the Oreo Churros. At 120 pesos, this dish was lovingly topped with crushed Oreos. Lots and lots of it. The dip is made out of cheesecake, in contrast to the plain choco dip for their classic chrurros. I loved this.

Bacon churros come in 5 pieces for 95 pesos. This tastes more like a viand compared to the other desserts. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed it because of the copious amounts of bacon spread at the top of the dish.

For someone who wants their churros with a lot going on, he can try the Smores Churro ala Mode. At 165 pesos, this dish has the toppings of crush graham crackers, peanuts, marshmallows, nuts and chocolate syrup. This will truly make one satiated due to the sheer amount of toppings.

the Churro crust serves as the base for the build your own churros. Customers can choose toppings from their menu.

We had the build your own churro bowl. This delightful overload of ice cream, cheesecake, blueberry, nuts, and caramel syrup was enough to satisfy my ice cream cravings for the day. Add to that the milky taste brought by the cheesecake and blue berry, and you definitely have something that rivals the churros cake. The thing about this dish is that you can choose the toppings you want. 

We truly had a great time here!

Mr. Churros is located at F7 Rallos, Sct. Rallos, Quezon City! Their FB page is at https://www.facebook.com/Mr-Churros-571666032988683/