Magic Water is a viral Filipino drink popularized by Binondo’s Aling Bebe. It’s refreshing and perfect for the summer season as a sweet, thirst-quenching drink!
Summer is approaching and what better way to beat the summer heat than with a glass of ice cold water…or is it?
“Magic Water” went viral back in 2022, which was popularized by Aling Bebe’s refreshment stand in Binondo, Philippines. What looked like an icy, crisp pot of water actually contained clear gulaman (gelatin), mixed along ice with a hint of banana essence.
It became viral in part due to its affordability (5-10 Philippine pesos) and Aling Bebe’s determination to show up for her customer’s every day life in her Binondo corner. Since the 1980s, she’s been consistently helping to quench the thirst of so many Filipinos one magic water cup at a time.
What is Palamig?
Palamig is an umbrella term for the various types of sweet, chilled Filipino drinks that are typically consumed in especially hot days.
They almost always contain some sort of jelly-like ingredient, such as sago or tapioca pearls, nada de coco, coconut strips, and/or gulaman (gelatin).
The drink itself can also vary in terms of flavour. Some may be coconut-flavoured, others may taste like calamansi, melon, ube, or even pandan.
This version of palamig is simply sweetened with sugar and requires a few drops of banana essence. I like to think of it as the sister to sago’t gulaman, which is essentially similar to Magic Water, though it uses brown sugar instead (making it darker in comparison).
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