Vino de Cocos, The Pilgrim Beverage: Filipino Knowledge, Colonial Encounters and the Forgotten Origins of Mezcal

In the seventeenth century, a drink made from the sap of coconut palms transformed the Pacific world. Vino de cocos—a distilled spirit of Filipino origin—traveled aboard the Manila Galleon from the Philippines to New Spain, where it took root along the coasts of Colima and Zacatula. Produced by indios chinos who brought with them the art of distillation, this “pilgrim beverage” became the first distilled drink of the Americas, preceding mezcal and reshaping colonial economies, ecologies, and cultures.Through meticulous archival research and fieldwork across Mexico and the Philippines, historian Paulina Machuca reconstructs the forgotten history of this transcultural encounter. Her work reveals how Filipino immigrants, palm haciendas, and Pacific trade routes created a web of biocultural exchange that connected Asia and the Americas long before modern globalization.A pioneering study that bridges anthropology, history, and environmental studies, Vino de Cocos, The Pilgrim Beverage unveils the intertwined destinies of peoples and plants, technologies and tastes—and redefines our understanding of colonial contact and the origins of one of Mexico’s most emblematic spirits. Read more