EVERYONE has his own way of showing his pride and love. For entrepreneurs, and coffee and cocktail drinks experts Marlon Casiño, Jimmy Dominggo, Lanz Mirondo and Christian Badon, their way of expressing their love for Cebu was to open a bar that showcases handcrafted Cebuano cocktails with local spirits. The cherry on top? The drinks are garnished with local delicacies such as masi, sapin-sapin and otap.
Beers and spirits have long had a place in Cebuano culture and that is why Cebuanos love to drink—same with the owners themselves and everyone else in this world—once in a while to unwind, and just have a good time. During one of their drinking sessions, the owners realized that there was no bar in the metro which offered local handcrafted drinks yet.
“We wanted to create a bar that promotes local products. Most of the bars here are the usual ones—serving international cocktails like a Margarita or Whiskey Sour. It is very seldom that you will see a bar that is offering local handcrafted drinks—something that we locals will understand. And we have our resources here to create luscious drinks, so why not make use of these?” said Dominggo.
Staying true to its vision of creating something local, Guion by Linear also names its drinks in Cebuano words like its best-seller Aslom Na Asno, a perfect combination of the iconic mule and whiskey with the pronounced flavor of passionfruit and aroma of burnt rosemary, sided with tamarind to balance the taste which is sweet and sour with a hint of spice.
Its “Nagpangidlap Biyasong Lagitning,” made of subtle pear mingles with intense citrus limes, ending with bold of agave tequila flavor and smooth texture of strawberry and orange bitters and scented with Kaffir lime leaf, is garnished with sapin-sapin, a sticky-layered glutinous chewy flavored coconut dessert to cleanse the palate.
“Since we are new and our drinks are new to everyone, we just don’t let our customers read the menu, but we ask them their preferences—what taste they are looking for in a drink so we can suggest and explain to them everything from the ingredients to the taste of our suggested drink.” explained Dominggo.
Aside from its unique drinks offering, Guion by Linear also introduces a unique concept which is a shifting bar where specialty coffee place Linear Coffee Roasters—at its new location in Big Hotel—is also the same place where Guion by Linear serves its cocktail drinks but only from 6 p.m. until midnight every day. The bar also holds a “battle of the bartender” and invites international bartenders to give a basic lesson about bartending and mixology, as it also aims to be a venue for those who are interested and passionate about this kind of field.
Just like Cebu’s famous lechon, puso, Magellan’s Cross or Bojo River, Guion by Linear aims to offer something that Cebu will also be known for—local handcrafted cocktail drinks.