TROPICAL COOLERS

Offer a toast to the Fourth of July with a variety of summer coolers from the tropics. Perfect for patio parties are such intriguing fruit-flavored drinks as a pina colada made with coconut water, a tangy green mango margarita and a wine cooler that blends ripe mango with sparkling wine. All are from the Philippines, where the heat makes icy refreshment necessary.

Hot and cold are opposites that attract without fail when hot refers to summer weather and cold to a refreshing drink.

Tomorrow’s barbecues and patio parties will call forth this pleasant combination, hopefully without undue discomfort from the heat. Typical cold drinks for the Fourth of July include iced tea, soft drinks, lemonade and beer. But why be typical? In addition to the old favorites, try something new, perhaps a pretty, fruit-flavored drink with the appeal of a vacation in the tropics.

Our collection of recipes comes from the Philippines, where the hot, humid climate makes refreshment essential. Fresh fruit juices and icy sweet drinks that incorporate shreds of cantaloupe or soft young coconut are common there, and fanciful cocktails created at hotels and resorts rival those of the Caribbean, Hawaii or Mexico.

Often, the ingredients are similar. Like the Caribbean, the Philippines produces rum, a must for tropical drinks. Bananas, pineapple and mangoes are leading fruit crops, used in a multitude of ways. Philippine banana daiquiris resemble those of Puerto Rico, and there are also mango daiquiris, made either with the fresh fruit or canned nectar. Pineapple juice is a common mixer, and a wedge of pineapple strung on a pick with a maraschino cherry is a staple garnish.

But there are differences too, resulting from the archipelago’s unique products and distinctive ways of using them. A fresh version of the pina colada comes from the Century Park Sheraton in Manila. Pure and light in flavor, the drink is made with the water drained from a freshly opened coconut rather than with an artificial mix.

Guyabano nectar is another popular ingredient. The name of this fruit confuses some because it sounds like guava. In actuality, guyabano is the Tagalog name for soursop, and the fruit is the same as the Mexican guanabana. Bottles of guyabano nectar concentrate, imported from Manila, are stocked in Filipino and some other Asian markets in Los Angeles. Also available is a concentrate for calamansi nectar.

The calamansi is a citrus fruit that resembles a small lime and accompanies Filipino dishes with about the same frequency that limes accompany Mexican food. Although the fruit can be grown in California, it is not now commercially available.

Freshly squeezed calamansi juice is a wonderful thirst quencher, the Filipino equivalent to lemonade and the typical drink one orders when coming out of the heat into the oasis of a cool restaurant. Most dining places in Manila also serve green mango juice. A green mango is simply an unripe mango. Blended with ice and syrup, it yields a drink with a refreshing tang. The tartness of the immature fruit makes the addition of lime or lemon juice unnecessary.

Green mangoes are so widely used in the Philippines that markets display them alongside the ripe fruit. In addition to the drink, they are turned into salads and salty pickles or served raw as an appetizer with a dip made from the strong-tasting shrimp paste called bagoong. Since mangoes are abundant and available throughout the year, prices are startlingly low compared to those in countries that must import their supply.

In Los Angeles, green mangoes are stocked at some Asian markets, usually at a substantial price. Or one can choose the least ripe of the fruits displayed in any market. Color is not a sure indicator of immaturity, however, for the Mexican mangoes that are commonly found in this area can be green-skinned when ripe. A better test is to press the fruit lightly. It should be rock hard as well as green.

A drink that is currently making the rounds of bistros in Manila is the manggarita, a spinoff of the Mexican margarita made with green mango juice and a unique alcoholic beverage called lambanog. Filipino bartenders often substitute lambanog for tequila, a procedure that has to be reversed when making the manggarita in Los Angeles because lambanog is not yet available outside the Philippines.

Lambanog (pronounced with the accent on the first syllable) is a sort of local moonshine, a coconut liquor that is sold at country stands, often in recycled bottles. In Los Banos outside Manila, we stopped at Toto’s Original Lambanog stand, where a large bottle costs 15 pesos, or about 75 cents. Each bottle contained a handful of raisins, which apparently had come from the small red boxes that were strung about the stand like bunting. A more startling inclusion was a square of chewing gum, added to enhance the flavor.

One producer, LM Industries, is trying to upgrade lambanog to export quality. The LM plant at Magdalena in Laguna Province is an upscale establishment with a bottling line supervised by uniformed workers, some of whom live in quarters provided by the company. Five percent of what they bottle is premium lambanog, either colorless or gold and slightly fruit flavored, that is aimed at foreigners. The remainder is a darker hue and includes raisins. “Without the raisins, lambanog won’t sell in the Philippines,” said Evelyn Co Chua of LM.

Obtaining the coconut sap for lambanog is a perilous and primitive process. At a plantation at the town of Majayjay, we watched men climb the trees with tankards on their backs. The tankards are used to collect sap drained from the coconut buds before they flower. A network of bamboo poles connects the treetops so the men can travel from one to another without descending. They tap each tree morning and evening, lowering their tankards on ropes to the ground, where the sap is transferred to other containers and taken to a still. One man can tap as many as 120 trees a shift and is paid 20 pesos ($1) for each six gallons collected.

The sap is allowed to ferment for two to three days and is then distilled. The still we saw was located off the highway among the trees, and a visit by foreigners to that obscure site was a novelty that attracted a crowd of onlookers. After distilling, the coconut liquor goes to the processing plant where it is filtered, aged, combined with sugar cane alcohol and bottled. In the following recipes, gold tequila has been substituted for lambanog in a manggarita as prepared at Ang Bistro Sa Remedios, a Manila restaurant specializing in traditional Filipino food. The same substitution has been made in Cafe Hacienda, a cold coffee drink from Cafe Ysabel in San Juan, Metro Manila.

Another drink from Cafe Ysabel is All Seasons, a tall and refreshing blend of fruit juices combined with a dash each of melon liqueur and rum. Gene Gonzalez, the creative young chef who runs Cafe Ysbael and a nearby restaurant called Gene’s Bistro, tops All Seasons with a thin layer of whipped cream to simulate froth. The cream, which is sprinkled with a few drops of the melon liqueur, adds a touch of smoothness and creamy flavor that blends surprisingly well with the fruit juices.

Spain ruled the Philippines for more than 300 years, and sangria is a legacy of that era. We saw an especially pretty version at Via Mare, a luxurious restaurant in Makati, the financial district of Manila. The Via Mare sangria boasts a brilliant ruby color, produced by adding grenadine to the blend of red wine, fruit juices and 7-Up.

Other long drinks include a bright green cooler flavored with creme de menthe and Mild Summer, a pale orange concoction of mango nectar, orange juice, guyabano nectar and brandy. Both are from the Century Park Sheraton.

The long bar that opens onto the Manila Hotel lobby has a varied menu of tropical drinks. The most timely in terms of the current taste for light beverages is Roma, a sort of Asian wine cooler that blends fresh mango with Asti spumante, the sparkling sweet wine from Italy. Grande Dame, enriched with ice cream, classifies as a frothy, sweet, after-dinner cocktail. Rum drinks include a frozen banana daiquiri, Tropical Itch and the Manila Hotel Special, a voluminous combination of rum, creme de cacao, Galliano and juices served in a brandy snifter.

One of the most popular brands of Philippine rum is now making a bid for the American market. An initial shipment of 5,000 cases of Tanduay rum arrived at Oakland two weeks ago for distribution in supermarkets and liquor stores in California. Made from sugar cane grown in the Visayan Islands, Tanduay is aged four to five years in American oak. The distillery, which is owned by the Elizalde Group of Companies, is located in Manila near Malacanang Palace. SHERATON PINA COLADA

1 (6-ounce) can pineapple juice

3 ounces coconut water (liquid drained from coconut)

1 1/2 ounces light rum

1 1/2 ounces triple sec

1 maraschino cherry

1 section pineapple slice

Combine pineapple juice, coconut water, rum and triple sec in cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake well. Pour into tall glass. Garnish with cherry and pineapple. Makes 1 serving. BISTRO REMEDIOS MANGGARITA

1/3 cup diced green (unripe) mango

1 1/2 ounces gold tequila

1 ounce simple syrup

3 ice cubes

Combine mango, tequila, syrup and ice cubes in blender. Blend until mango is pureed and ice is finely ground. Turn into salt-rimmed stemmed glass. Makes 1 serving. CAFE YSABEL’S ALL SEASONS

3 ounces mango nectar

1 ounce orange juice

1/2 ounce pineapple juice

1/2 ounce guyabano (guanabana) nectar

1/2 ounce papaya nectar

3/4 teaspoon lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon lime juice

3/4 ounce melon liqueur

3/4 ounce light rum

Whipped cream

Few drops melon liqueur

Combine mango nectar, orange and pineapple juices, guyabano and papaya nectars, lemon and lime juices, liqueur and rum in cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well. Pour into tall glass. Top with very thin film of whipped cream. Float few drops melon liqueur on top of whipped cream. Makes 1 serving. CAFE HACIENDA

Orange or lemon juice

Granulated brown sugar

1 1/2 ounces Kahlua

3/4 ounce gold tequila

3/4 ounce coconut liqueur

1/2 cup cold strong coffee

1 teaspoon simple syrup

1 scoop vanilla ice cream

Moisten rim of large glass with orange juice. Swirl in granulated brown sugar to coat rim. Combine Kahlua, tequila, coconut liqueur, coffee and syrup in cocktail shaker. Add ice, shake well and turn into prepared glass. Top with ice cream. Makes 1 serving. VIA MARE’S SANGRIA

3 ounces red wine

1 ounce orange juice

1 ounce pineapple juice

1/2 ounce grenadine

1/2 cup carbonated lemon-lime beverage

Lime peel, orange slice and maraschino cherry for garnish

Combine wine, orange and pineapple juices and grenadine in brandy snifter. Add ice. Add lemon-lime beverage and stir. Garnish with lime peel, orange slice and cherry. Makes 1 serving. SHERATON COOLER

3 ounces mango nectar

3 ounces guyabano (guanabana) nectar

1 1/2 ounces calamansi nectar

1 1/2 ounces light rum

1 1/2 ounces orange juice

1 1/2 ounces simple syrup

3/4 ounce green creme de menthe

1 maraschino cherry

1 section pineapple slice

Combine mango, guyabano and calamansi nectars, rum, orange juice, syrup and creme de menthe in tall glass. Stir and add ice. Garnish with cherry and pineapple. Makes 1 serving. MILD SUMMER

3 ounces mango nectar

3 ounces orange juice

1 1/2 ounces guyabano (guanabana) nectar

1 ounce lime juice

3/4 ounce brandy

1 teaspoon grenadine

Combine mango nectar, orange juice, guyabano nectar, lime juice, brandy and grenadine in cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake well. Pour into tall glass. Makes 1 serving. ROMA SPECIAL

1/2 mango

3 ounces Asti spumante

3/4 ounce simple syrup

3 or 4 ice cubes

Combine peeled mango, wine, syrup and ice in blender. Process until mango is pureed. Pour into tulip glass. Makes 1 serving. GRAND DAME

1 1/2 ounces dark rum

1 ounce Galliano

2 ounces guyabano (guanabana) nectar

1 scoop vanilla ice cream

1 egg yolk

1 maraschino cherry

Combine rum, Galliano, guyabano nectar, ice cream and egg yolk in blender and blend thoroughly. Pour into white wine glass and add cracked ice. Garnish with cherry. Makes 1 serving. BANANA FROZEN DAIQUIRI

1/2 very ripe banana

1 1/2 ounces gold rum

3/4 ounce triple sec

3/4 ounce sweet and sour mix

4 ice cubes

1 banana slice

1 maraschino cherry

Combine banana, rum, triple sec, sweet and sour mix and ice in blender and blend until frothy. Pour into stemmed glass. Decorate with banana slice and cherry. Makes 1 serving. TROPICAL ITCH

1 ounce light rum

3/4 ounce gold rum

1/2 ounce vodka

1/2 ounce triple sec

3 ounces guyabano (guanabana) nectar

Combine rums, vodka, triple sec and guyabano nectar in large wine glass. Stir. Add ice. Makes 1 serving. MANILA HOTEL SPECIAL

2 ounces dark rum

1 ounce creme de cacao

1 ounce Galliano

2 ounces whipping cream

2 ounces orange juice

1/2 ounce lemon juice

1 ounce simple syrup

Combine rum, creme de cacao, Galliano, cream, orange and lemon juices and syrup in cocktail shaker. Add ice, shake well and pour into large brandy snifter. Makes 1 serving.