Buko juice

May 20, 2025

Whether I’m riding on my bike or on a long commute, seeing a buko juice vendor on the horizon is such a sight for sore eyes, feet, and sweaty thighs. Sorry for the TMI. Inspired by the heat last April and getting replenishment from vendors pushing heavy carts of coconuts, I made an illustration dedicated to nature’s ancient “bottled sports drink.”

Before I draw something new I like to read up on the subject first. Since I didn’t grow up in the Philippines, my connection to this fresh ambrosia from the “Tree of Life” is limited to these commutes that I’ve been taking for only the last several years. I wonder sometimes what life would have been like if I grew up in my mom or dad’s home provinces, treating coconuts as if they grew on trees – which they actually do. Once I was back in my mom’s province away from the city, and her caregiver’s son climbed up a 10 meter high tree, plucked a coconut, and slid back down like he’d been doing it for years. He was half my size, and just a third of my age.

JR cutting open coconut — This is young JR having just climbed a tree nonchalantly. He grabbed us a coconut or two with a bolo in one hand, the tree on the other, eyeing the best ones to pick.

I heard stories of my dad climbing up a coconut tree once, then falling down and almost fatally injuring himself as a teenager in Mindanao. I have no such skills or stories, but now I have some illustrations.

Papa with golden gate bridge and coconut tree illustration — The only skill I have is making memories into art. I was told my dad climbed coconut trees all the time as a teen. Just a few years later he was on a steam ship passing through what would become the Golden Gate Bridge. He arrived in California on May 1st, 1929, 3 years before construction on the bridge even started.

My own personal story with coconuts involves biking or walking down a street, and chancing upon a rolling oasis of fresh, ice cold, coconut juice. Lightly sweetened, and often served by a man almost as dark as me, and usually the same height. I wonder if I had been a buko juice vendor in another life, or maybe I have a cousin in the Visayas who is.

Buko or coconut juice vendor with coconuts in a cart — Coconut vendors are literal life savers in today’s changing climate. Makes you wonder who looks out for them.

Upon my research though I found out why I always felt rejuvenated and ready for another go under the sun after drinking a glass of buko juice. One coconut is already packed with potassium, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus, aka electrolytes. I remember learning about this word thanks to Gatorade commercials in the US. These electrolytes together help replenish what is lost when you’re out and about under the sun, or after a workout.

Turns out Filipinos have long enjoyed these electrolytes in the form of a non-sugary or overly-processed drink called buko juice. This has been enjoyed for so long in fact, that our ancient mariner ancestors brought coconuts with them during their journeys between islands from the Philippines to Tahiti. When the Spanish arrived, they did the same on the Manila Galleons. They would bring buko juice with them back to Mexico. Coconuts that sprouted along the way were planted upon arrival.

Coconut seedling or sprout, in Quezon province — A coconut sprouting in Quezon province. They can float like this in the ocean before sprouting for 100 days and/or 4,000 kilometers, and indeed they have for millions of years. Much of their spread today is thanks to human beings like us who love them. This photo was taken in one of the prime sources of coconuts in the Philippines – the CALABARZON region.

Coconuts go so way back, linguists use old words for coconut to help determine their origins in the past. Coconuts in Asia go by many names, like Drohanira which is a Sanskrit word that means “attached fruit with water”. A Malay word Nyiur is one of these older words which is similar to Niyog, one of many coconut terms used in the Philippines. The ancient word Nyiur is said to be an indication of coconut’s origins in Southeast Asia. DNA analysis also shows two centers of cultivation for coconuts, one in Southeast Asia and the other in Southern India.

If you ever find yourself out on a hot day or thirsty after a workout, don’t reach for a plastic bottle of overly-sweetened Gatorade. Look for a coconut vendor (or tree) near you and quench that thirst with an ancient green biodegradable “bottle” of buko juice.