Caffeine is my shepherd;
I shall not doze.
It maketh me to wake in green pastures:
It leadeth me beyond the sleeping masses.
It restoreth my buzz:
It leadeth me in the paths of consciousness for its name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of addiction,
I will fear no Equal™:
For thou art with me; thy cream and thy sugar they comfort me.
Thou preparest a carafe before me in the presence of The Starbucks:
Thou anointest my day with pep; my mug runneth over.
Surely richness and taste shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the House of Mochas forever.
~Author Unknown
( A long-overdue journal entry, quietly waiting in my hard drive. I noticed that I haven’t visiting my website lately, brought about by stress-inducer called work or job….or hell…whatever you wanna call it. After today though, revived by the fresh aromas of liberica that passed through my nostrils, I decided to put its caffeine to good use.)I can not yet claim to be a coffee connoisseur. I haven’t reached that point yet where I keep six different kinds of coffee makers at home.  Or strictly stick to a particular temperature to brew my blend. Or strictly guard the roasting of the beans. Not there yet....although I am slowly having the telltale signs of this drama.I’m beginning to sound like one. Ahahahahaha. Oh no.  My taste buds crave for more. Being a coffee aficionado, I taste every coffee blend I ran into from places I visit in the country. I can’t really remember when did this “addiction” start. Majority of us I think are coffee drinkers. There was a year I also stopped…hmn…well I had a self-imposed discipline on coffee intake due to my horrific insomnia and the depressing report on my bone density test….settled for boring decaf or heartbreaking one-cup consumption a day. Until perhaps recent researches on Arabica beans being a healthy coffee drink prompted the waving of green-flag for two-three cups a day, hail hail hail!!!  One thing I realized though, Starbucks did contribute to the increasing coffee consumption of Filipinos. I remember way back in 1999 when my friends and I eagerly visited the few stores of Starbucks just to drown our tastebuds of then hyped-drink called Mocha Frappe. Now, coffee shops have mushroomed almost everywhere in the metropolis. And hey, Filipinos have now learned that there are other gratifying coffee drinks aside from frappucino. Hehe. Recent article of Entrepreneur Magazine on Coffee (December 2006 issue) says: “The Los Baños – based Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCCARD) placed the annual Philippine Coffee Production for Liberica and other coffee varieties Robusta, Arabica, and Excelsa between 27,000 and 32, 000 metric tons, while annual coffee consumption was 65,000 metric tons. Filipinos were found to be drinking more and more coffee as yearly consumption had been drinking by three percent.”Indeed a good news for our coffee industry. Do you know that Philippines in the late 60’s used to be the third largest coffee producers in the world? Not anymore. Coffee farming here in the Philippines faces tough challenges not to mention global competition from the rest of the coffee growers in the world. Given its potential market, this is an industry which the government failed to continuously support over the years. Hopefully, the newly formed Philippine Coffee Board will help our coffee farmers produce more beans each year. Coffee Hunter My fondness for travel is synonymous with food, photography, and hunting for the local beans available. It was our recent trip in Sagada that these two young gentlemen coined the term – “the coffee hunter”. Enthused by our funny stories of our quest and excitement discovering local coffee beans, Cedrick and Patrick of Go Travel Magazine prodded me to eventually come up with an article of that same title. I like it. And I do like to take the credit. Sometimes I feel like a weirdo looking at coffee beans and start smelling them. “Sumisinghot ng coffee beans.” Ahahaha. Adik. Buti na lang, I am lucky to have met someone special who also shares the same addiction or else….talking about how I prepare my coffee, of liking Arabica beans over robusta and liberica, or sharing info perhaps that the instant coffee we drink is of robusta blend….blah blah…sounds gibberish alright….why not just drink and let caffeine take its course thru your bloodstream?  Not really. Its not that simple. Depends really on how much enjoyment you wanna derive from sipping your drink. Because its an experience. Kape Isla And the thrill of experiencing our local beans is being made possible by the annual coffee convention/exhibit sponsored by the Makati Business Club called Coffee Break. All our local coffee merchants participate, promoting their products and giving away about 100,000 cups for free coffee tasting. Not many Filipinos know that we do have a marketing scheme to sell our local coffee beans. With the support of Makati Business Club, there has been an active move to promote local brands. Geographically speaking, most of the “barako” blends (barako is liberica) we drink come from Batangas and Amadeo. Other varities come from the Cordillera regions, Mindanao (hmn and I heard that best Arabica beans now come from Basilan), and some parts in Visayas. Most of the packages have labels of “Kape Isla”. Among the four varieties, I am a sucker for Arabica beans. Its aroma… heavenly….and healthier coz it has less caffeine. Among the local brands I discovered, I frequently buy the brand Montanosa Coffee which I directly order from Baguio and Barako Gold of Figaro. The gracious owners of Montanosa I’ve met last year when I attended the Panagbenga Festival. And they carry five blends all in all: Benguet, Sagada, Ifugao, Arabica, and Kalinga. Other brands I have tasted are the following: Figaro ClassicoMonk’s Blend (Bukidnon)Cafe AmadeoSiete Barakos Café de LipaCordillera Coffee Coffee Alamid (Civet’s Cat poo poo hehehe, CaviteMasferre Blend (Sagada)Benguet Gold (Cordillera)Kalinga Brew (Tabuc, Kalinga Apayao)Some I order directly from the owners. Starbucks sells Kape Vinta, a blend made of Arabica beans sourced from the Philippines and Indonesia. Haven’t tried it though. My Call I do patronize first our local coffee beans over the imported ones proliferating in the market. Why? Freshness of the beans. And if you really are a coffee drinker, you know what I am talking about. Finally, what was once a personal dream to put a retail store of all our local beans has now become a reality as the Philippine Coffee Board launches “Kape Isla” store in Serendra. Led by Figaro products, you will now have the chance to have a taste of my adventure in coffee drinking. The store will sell all the local brands I mentioned above and many more. The store opens to the public starting February 13, 2007 at Serendra Center. Please come and visit. No, I wasn’t paid to promote the store. Its my passion calling you to try.
 | i hope they sell that tabuk market coffee i was telling you about ... drat i miss that a lot |
 | gusto kong matikman yung kape mula sa beans na inipot ng pusa |
 | I am a coffee drinker and one of the best coffee I had was in the Philippines. It was home roasted and brewed. I could never identify the variety but I am sure it is still being grown. I was in a mission to win this girls heart from Valencia Bukidnon, I paid her a visit and met her parents. She have a very wonderful parents who offered me the warm hospitality of a good coffee.
The other good source of coffee is Columbia but you are absolutely right. Patronizing the local products is the best idea. There is nothing better than a fresh brewed coffee from the fresh beans. I would love to try those varieties you mentioned. |
 | joyeee wrote on Feb 14, '07, edited on Feb 14, '07  i hope they sell that tabuk market coffee i was telling you about ... drat i miss that a lot  wish ko lang din di ba? dahil di mo ako nabigyan ng kape na yan. hmph! X_x |
 | pwede na print ad ung pic ah :P |
 | hmmmmm....a fellow coffee connoisseur and yes i do roast my own coffee. i find the african arabica and south american beans hardest to roast. the former i find too dry and delicate to get the right roast and the latter needs to be at medium roast to get the best out of it. the indonesians are the easiest, just burn them darn beans and its still OK. i am having the hardest time finding green coffee beans from the philippines. why is that? that could be a niche for you if since there are now plenty of home roasters now willing to try different varieties of coffee. help us out, will you? salamat. |
 | You can try out the "Ipot ng Pusa" or "Coffee Alamid" at 18days Coffee Shop at the ground floor of Insular LIfe Building in Alabang, Mon to Fri only 8-5. It normally sells for P100 per cup but you can have it for P75 just by saying "Coffee Hunter" |
| We have green beans from different parts of the our country. Arabica, Excelsa,Robusta,Liberica. You can call 8050713 and just mention "Coffee Hunter". |
| Coffee alamid is not anymore available in Bag-of-Beans in Tagaytay. You can buy at 18days Coffee shop at the ground floor of Insular life Building in Alabang. It now sells for 400 fro 50grams and 750 for 100grams. You can get a 25 peso discount if you mention"Coffee Hunter" |
| The beans from Tabuk will be arriving soon, Will post as soon as it arrives....you can get them in green beans too, call 8050713 and mention "Coffee Hunter" |
| We also have beans from Columbia, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia and Costa Rica on very limited quantities. These were last years crop, just mention "Coffee Hunter" to get access to these beans. You can now compare how these beans match up to Philippine Coffee. |
| joyeee wrote on Apr 14, '07, edited on Apr 14, '07 WOW! ....thanks basil! grabe, paolo and i will be delighted to visit your shop one of these days, and taste Alamid once again!!! And more beans for me to taste! Yay!
And thanks for the discount! Unbelievable, I had one cup at Soul Cafe for almost P300 bucks.. hehe...people asked me how's the taste of Coffee Alamid...and I say..."chocolatey"! ^_^ |
Comment deleted at the request of the author.
 | i'm not a coffee drinker but when i travel i always make sure i bring home coffee for my parents and some friends who i know to be coffee lovers.
i remember this store in the baguio market where i once had grilled mixed coffee beans - 50% benguet arabica, 25% vanilla flavored, and 25% hazelnut flavored. the people at home loved it. i also bought soy coffee there.
another kind of coffee which i was told was truly great is the coffee from laos which i brought home once when i had a work visit there.
the last two times i've tried coffee was first when i was in bakun and it was the chaser for gin, and second in valencia bukidnon where my host offered me a cup of coffee i could not decline. |
 | hey! i saw you're site through google, nagreresearch kasi ko...i'm a graduating architecture student of ust. thesis proposal ko : coffee plantation hotel and resort spa in lipa city, batangas....yep, walang tatalo sa local coffee natin. eversince maaprove thesis proposal ko i've been visiting different coffee shops as well, pero wala e....local pa din.especially barako. buti na lang i stumbled into these. dagdag info na din...hehehe |
 | hi joyee! i've read ur very interesting journal about coffee! i came across with ur journal while i was browsing around multiply about civet coffee and coffee in the philippines. my thesis kasi is about the civet coffee like how am i gonna feature and present it to the filipino market. its like im going to do a coffee table book about that and it comes along with a marketing strategy and advocacy as well. tatanungin ko lang po sana kung meron po kayon alam na contact sa isang coffee farm. i will be needing to have a photoshoot din po kasi sa coffee farm coz that includes on the history of coffee part of my book. thanks and have a nice day!
thank you god for coffee! Shalom!
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 | hi joyce, i read your blog and it's actually very "sakto" to what i'm looking for. i'm currently doing research on coffee and coffee shops. do you happen to know where the most expensive cup of coffee can be bought? thank you. :) |
 | hi joy, i stumbled upon ur blog, i'm looking for coffee beans supplier, we're putting up a coffee shop and we want to use local brands, do you happen to know distributor of the montañosa coffee? I hope you can help me thank you, have a nice day =) |
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