When Carlos Mangcupang steps behind the bar, he brings more than cocktails — he brings Mindanao with him.
The flamboyant Davao-based bartender is one of the special guest shifts at the week-long first anniversary celebration of Opal Bar MNL, the buzzy cocktail destination tucked in Poblacion, Makati City.
Invited by bar owner Wilfredo “Sev” Sevilla, Jr. and his business partners, Carlos is among a distinguished lineup of guests marking the milestone of a bar that has drawn celebrities and popular personalities with its commitment to quality cocktails.
It’s a fitting stage for a bartender who has made a name for himself not just through skill, but through sheer personality.
At just four years into his bartending career, Carlos has risen quickly in the industry. His concept, “Gay Drinking with Carlos,” began as something far more modest — a brunch menu idea for Taste of Home, the family restaurant in Matina Town Square, Davao City that has been in operation for 26 years.
“Originally, it started as a menu for our brunch for our restaurant. Supposed to be day-drinking, and then, after a few months, parang sabi ko, ‘ay, day-drinking, gay-drinking — why not make it gay drinking?'” he recalled. “Basically, it’s not really the name of the bar, it’s just the act of drinking with me — it’s gay-drinking with Carlos.”
Despite the name, the concept is emphatically open to everyone. “It’s for everyone. It’s just the act of drinking with a gay girl like me — ganon!” Carlos said with a laugh.
But underneath the playfulness is a genuinely artistic vision. Before bartending, Carlos spent years drifting through creative pursuits — five years surfing and running a small coffee shop in Mati, stints in a kitchen, painting, playing guitar and piano. When he discovered bartending, it clicked.
“It’s an expression of who I am and what I usually do as a kid,” he explained. “It’s a whole experience of my experiences, and it’s like a translation of my ideas into the drinks in a glass.”
What sets Carlos apart, and what has powered his rapid rise, is his deliberate use of Mindanaoan ingredients and identity. At Opal Bar MNL, he showcased a drink called “Richard” — built on Maker’s Mark Bourbon washed with charred durian, and finished with biasong, an endemic lime found in Northern Central Mindanao traditionally used for kinilaw. The drink also features local strawberry jam, pinakurat suka, Bukidnon pineapples, and Davao banana — a geography lesson in a glass.
His outfit, too, is a statement. Designed by Niño Franco, a local Davao designer, the garment features prints from the Bagobo tribe, the indigenous group closest to his home city.
“Mindanao is really rich with a lot of things — history, tradition, culture, food, art — and I don’t think we have enough spotlight,” Carlos said. “There is so much diversity in Mindanao and I would want to feature those in my art.”
That missionary zeal extends to how he thinks about bartending itself. He draws a direct line between cocktail-making and visual art — the way colors shift depending on medium, the way garnishes complete a composition.
“I love colors. It’s the same as bartending — you can use a different type of form for a different concept. It’s how you play with the ingredients you wanna use. It’s art.”
For those drinking with Carlos on the other side of the bar, the experience is designed to be anything but serious. “Drinking should be fun. It should be light, it should be a venue for artists, because I believe bartenders are artists,” he said. “It should be fun, light, and colorful.”
Carlos shares the anniversary spotlight with internationally acclaimed Japanese bartender Toru Ariyoshi, 44, head bartender of Bee’s Knees in Kyoto — a bar that has spent five years on Asia’s 50 Best Bars list. Ariyoshi’s takeover is scheduled for Saturday night, April 25, bringing 25 years of experience to the Poblacion bar.
For Carlos, though, the Manila appearance is bigger than a guest shift. It is a declaration — that Mindanao is here, it is creative, and it deserves to be seen.
“I think I just wanted to show what Mindanaoans are capable of,” he said. “Come visit us in Mindanao!”
