root words: mukha and asim
mukhasim
“sour face”
Mukhasim is not a word that can be found in a standard Tagalog dictionary. It is a coinage of the Datu Puti brand of vinegar in the Philippines.
SAFI, the manufacturers of Datu Puti vinegar, combined the Tagalog words mukha (face) and asim (sourness) to describe the face that a person makes upon tasting their product.
Datu is a title given to a local leader in pre-colonial Philippines. The word puti means ‘white.’ There was an actual historical personage whose name was Datu Puti.
