Botanas vs. Pulutan: How Mexico and the Philippines Snack With a Drink.

Yesterday, we were at Rodeo 39 Public Market in Stanton, California, near Anaheim, celebrating our good friend Jut’s birthday alongside the SoCal Filipino community. We had a Bites & Brews Without Borders table set up with some of our products, and while talking with a customer, I started explaining how our business got to where it is today.

We originally started with beer, bringing Filipino craft beer to the U.S. Over the years, we’ve done a lot of festivals, pop-ups, tastings, and other events. One question we heard all the time was,

“Do you guys have food?”

That question eventually helped us expand from brews into bites.

While I was telling that story yesterday, the customer mentioned something that immediately sounded familiar. He told me that in the Philippines they have pulutan, food and snacks eaten while drinking, especially with beer.

I told him,

“We have something similar in Mexico. We call them botanas.”

It was a simple conversation, but it summed up a big part of what Bites & Brews Without Borders has become.

What Are Botanas?

In Mexico, botanas are snacks or small bites that can be served before a meal, while hanging out, or alongside a cold beer or other drink.

And botanas don't have to be complicated.

They can be peanuts, chips, chicharrones, salsa, seafood, tostadas, or whatever happens to be on the table. What you're eating can change depending on where you are, who you're with, and the occasion.

For us, the important part isn't having a strict definition of what counts as a botana. It's the experience around it.

You have a drink. Someone puts food on the table. Everyone starts picking at it. Then you realize you've been sitting there talking, eating, and drinking for the last couple of hours.

What Is Pulutan?

In the Philippines, pulutan plays a similar role.

Pulutan refers to foods and snacks commonly eaten while drinking alcohol. It can be something simple and crunchy or a more substantial dish meant to be shared around the table.

Coming from the beer side of the business, this immediately made sense to us.

We had spent years serving Filipino craft beer, and now we were having a conversation about the Filipino foods and snacks people enjoy alongside those drinks.

The words were different, but the idea felt very familiar.

Botanas and Pulutan: Different Traditions, Similar Idea

Botanas and pulutan aren't the same thing, and each comes from its own culture and food traditions. But there's an interesting similarity between them.

In Mexico, we call them botanas. In the Philippines, they're called pulutan.

Both can turn drinking a beer into something more social. There's food on the table, people are sharing, and nobody is necessarily in a hurry.

That's also what we've experienced at so many of the events we've been part of over the years.

People try something, talk about it, pass it around, ask where it's from, and sometimes discover a flavor or product they hadn't tried before.

How Botanas and Pulutan Connect to Our Story

Bites & Brews Without Borders didn't start with a plan to become a snack company.

We started in beer distribution and helped bring Engkanto Brewery from the Philippines to customers in the U.S. As we grew, we had the opportunity to work with restaurants, chefs, brands, festivals, and different communities.

The food side happened naturally.

After being asked so many times whether we sold food, we started thinking about what actually goes well with the beer we were already serving.

For us, the answer was the foods and snacks we'd actually want on the table ourselves.

Today, that includes products like salsa macha, traditional Mexican mole, Filipino style chicharrones, chamoy candy, seasoned peanuts, and other snacks we've discovered through the people and brands we've worked with.

Yesterday's conversation at Rodeo 39 brought the whole idea together in a way we hadn't really thought about before.

We started with Filipino beer. We eventually added Mexican and Filipino foods and snacks. Then, standing at one of our tables, a customer introduced us to the word pulutan and we realized how closely it connected to the botanas we already knew.

That's pretty much Bites & Brews Without Borders.

Different foods, different cultures, and sometimes different words for ideas that aren't so different after all.

What's on Your Table?

We're still discovering new products, foods, and traditions as we grow, and that's part of the fun.

Whether you call them botanas, pulutan, bar snacks, beer snacks, or just something to eat while you're hanging out, we'd love to know what's usually on your table.

And if you're looking for something new to put out with your next drink, check out our collection of Mexican and Filipino snacks and specialty foods.

Want to try some of the botanas and pulutan that inspired us? Explore our Mexican and Filipino snacks.