THE ALCOHOL INDUSTRY OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, Ill. 99 
Sugar-cane is cultivated for sugar in the southern and central islands 
of the Philippine group, while in the northern provinces of Luzon and in 
the Batanes Islands almost all of it is utilized in the production of basi. 
A small quantity of sugar is made by the inhabitants for their own use, 
but comparatively small amounts are exported. The basi industry is now 
increasing rapidly. As a matter of fact, during the last five years the 
amount of sugar-cane planted for this purpose has been doubled in order 
to meet the demand of the market. 
The manufacture of this beverage is largely carried on by Ilocanos, who 
export it to the neighboring provinces. In Manila some of the dealers 
in native wines receive shipments of basi, in demijohns, which they bottle 
in old wine bottles and sell for 10 centavos the pint bottle. The indications 
are that the use of this beverage is spreading and increasing. 
While the process of manufacture described below is simple, 
it is very slow for lack of proper machinery and the results are 
often uncertain. (Plate I.) 
About 538 liters of bennal" are boiled in a sinublan* until the liquid is 
reduced to about 45 liters. (A mark or scratch on the kettle is indispen- 
sable to the kettle tender to insure that the remaining liquid is little more 
or less than 45 liters.) When ebullition begins, 0.25 square meter of the 
bark of the samak°® tree is put in to intensify the red color, and 1 chupa” 
of the dried and powdered leaves of the same tree is added to coagulate 
the sediment or suspended solid in the liquid. While the liquid is boiling, 
it is stirred occasionally with a branch of samak and care is exercised in 
skimming off all of the scum ™ which floats on top of the liquid. 
As soon as the contents of the kettle has reached the 45-liter mark, the 
fire is put out and the liquid is decanted into a burnai” and allowed to 
stand at least twenty-four hours, after which time it has thoroughly cooled. 
One salup* of parek™ is now put into the jar, which is then covered 
tightly with leaves of samak and placed under ground where it remains dur- 
ing the fermenting and ageing process. After two months the basi can be 
drunk, but the older it becomes the better the quality. It is considered that 
two years’ ageing produces the necessary characteristics of a good beverage. 
Basi often foams so rapidly after four or five days in the ground, due 
to the rapid fermentation, that scarcely 10 or 12 liters of the 45 are left. 
The cause of this, according to native superstition and belief, is insufficient 
boiling before the ferment is added; or, that the place where the sugar- 
cane was planted was made the rendezvous of lovers; and still a third 
“The juice of sugar-cane (Ilocano). 
*A large kettle containing at least 55 liters. 
*Macaranga tanarius Muell.-Arg. 
* Spanish measure of capacity equivalent to 875 cubic centimeters. 
* Lablab (Ilocano). 
* Ilocano name for an earthen jar. They are of different capacities. In 
this case a jar of 45 liters is required. Same as tenaja (Spanish). 
*1 salup=8 liters. 
uA ferment composed 1 part of the dried and powdered leaves of the 
samak tree and 4 parts of the dried and powdered fruit of the same 
(Ilocano). [Note that this is the same word as palek, previously mentioned 
as being the local name for basi in the Batanes Islands.—H. O. B.] 
