How Filipino flavors, spirits, and stories are giving the UK a new way to discover the Philippines
For someone who has spent much of his life between two countries, Kyle Alexander Russell has found a delicious way of keeping both worlds close.
Born and raised in the Philippines to a Scottish- and Indian-blooded family, Russell moved to the UK in 2019 to study.
Today, he is the founder of East End Library, a business bringing Filipino flavors, spirits and stories to the British market.
“I always like to say I’m Filipino by heart and by stomach,” Russell tells The Philippine STAR.
Filipino food and culture were fixtures in his family home in Manila, where merienda was practically mandatory and guests were rarely allowed to leave without eating.
It was only after moving thousands of miles away that Russell fully appreciated how deeply those flavors were tied to his sense of home.
In the UK, he noticed that Asian cuisines were well represented, while Filipino food was harder to find, particularly in Manchester, where he lived.
So he began cooking sinigang, adobo and palabok for friends, introducing them to flavors they had never encountered.
Then came COVID-19.
Unable to return home, Russell spent birthdays and Christmases away from family. His grandfather also passed away during this period, making the distance more difficult.
“This is ultimately where East End Library fits into my story,” he says.
Finding home in a glass
Russell had worked as a bartender while studying Computer Animation and Visual Effects, and the experience changed the way he looked at spirits.
“I became fascinated by the quality, craftsmanship, ingredients, and culture behind a bottle,” he says. “When you really look at it, making a spirit is a form of art.”
For him, drinks can be cultural ambassadors. A cocktail made with a Filipino ingredient can prompt questions about where a flavor came from, how it was made and why it matters.
East End Library’s tasting sessions build on that idea, using drinks as entry points into Philippine culture, history, and traditions.
“The drink becomes the introduction, but the story behind it is what I want people to remember,” Russell says.
If he had to choose one ingredient to introduce someone to the Philippines, it would be calamansi.
Its bright, distinctive citrus character can be familiar yet surprising to someone tasting it for the first time.
For Russell, it also reflects the Philippines itself: recognizable in some ways, but full of layers once you look closer.
“If calamansi becomes the ingredient that makes someone curious about Filipino food, our culture, our producers, or even inspires them to visit the country themselves, then that is exactly the kind of impact I want East End Library to have.”
When a bottle inspires a flight
Perhaps the clearest sign that the idea works comes through the conversations around the products.
At one market, Russell met a couple curious about the Philippines. A few weeks later, they messaged him to say they had booked flights to visit the country.
Another encounter affected him differently.
A young British Filipino who had never fully explored their heritage told Russell that learning more about Filipino food and culture made them feel proud to be Filipino.
“For a British customer, I hope that first taste makes them curious about the Philippines,” Russell says. “For a Filipino customer, I hope it tastes like home.”
Russell experienced that sense of discovery himself when he traveled to Sagada, where he visited a distillery and met its owner, Andrew. Despite being born and raised in the Philippines, it was his first time in the Cordillera region.
The mountains, cooler climate, sugarcane, and local botanicals gave new meaning to the rum and gin he encountered there. His journey also took him to Buscalan, where he met Apo Whang-Od.
The experience reinforced something important: there were still enormous parts of his own country waiting to be discovered.
This is the story Russell wants East End Library to tell: every bottle can lead somewhere — to a farm, a mountain, a community, a tradition, or perhaps even a plane ticket.
Ultimately, his vision is not simply to sell a Filipino bottle to a British customer.
It is to make that bottle the beginning of a journey.
A taste can become a story; a story can become curiosity; and curiosity can become a desire to see the Philippines for oneself.
“You can introduce someone to the Philippines through a bottle,” Russell says, “but there’s nothing quite like experiencing the real thing.”