No more press cards In my attempt to understand the art and craft of coffee brewing, I take it that every step from bean to cup is a learning process. Too much coffee in a cup will trigger signals in our taste buds and same goes with too much sugar and too much cream. Just like my passion for photography, the balance between contents and subject, between light and darkness are definitely considered but the ultimate result depends on the shooter and not the camera. This online edition of Cordillera Voice will once again share to our online community what local farmers, processors, experts and advocates for coffee as an industry have been doing lately with the hope that this small sector will somehow make it big and contribute to the Philippine economy. Enjoy reading and join me with a good cup of steaming coffee Art Tibaldo
We share the news as we share our coffee to everyone and we hope all these are good to the senses. This special issue focuses on coffee farming, processing and the related activities that promote and market said product as a community industry of the upland towns of the Cordillera. With the intervention of my office, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-CAR) in converging with other line agencies and local government units as well as learning institutions and organizations that are into helping the coffee industry, we hope to make a turn around to regain an old status as being among the top coffee producers in the world. Though that is definitely a tall order, Let us see how things will unfold. Thanks to the material contributions from DTI Mountain Province and to the participants of the Coffee 101 Training cum Cross Visit that was held in Sagada from September 30 to October 1, 2014.
Brewing and Understanding Coffee Inside and Out By Art Tibaldo
We are the baristas to our own coffee. With every sip of coffee we drink, there are wealth of virtues and added values that define the beverage as more than just a morning drink. It is an experiential learning to the participants of the Coffee 101 Cum Cross Visit that was held in Sagada, Mountain Province at the onset of the cold months of 2014. The attendees came from different parts of Luzon and Mindanao composed of small-to-medium entrepreneurs, DTI Coffee Point persons from nine regions and representatives from national line agencies and local government units. Director Myrna Pablo of the Department of Trade and Industry-CAR claimed that her agency is now implementing what she refers to as “from seed to cup” that completes the menu of support for the region‟s coffee industry. “Demand becomes more challenging with today‟s 3rd Wave Coffee where people of wide age range prefer specialty coffee that carries with them stories of the people and environment where the coffee originate” Pablo added. Prof. Valentino Macanes of the Benguet State University who gave a talk on good agricultural practices for coffee observed that the Philippines is blessed to have the four commercial varieties, namely Arabica, Robusta, Excelsa and Liberica since the country is within the coffee belt. Macanes stressed that there is a need to intensify the farmer‟s productivity by helping them with appropriate technology. Accordingly, RP ranks 110th in the world in terms of coffee production and local producers cannot even meet domestic consumption. Macanes also lamented “how we wish to bring back the old glory of being among the top
coffee producers” saying that RP was the world‟s fourth biggest exporter but it lasted in 1889 when coffee rust hit the country. With the 3rd wave of coffee generation through the proliferation of coffee shops and small coffee roasters, Macanes expressed hope that with Arabica as the most preferred in both local and global market, local growers and producers from the Cordillera can make things happen. Besides, Arabica is considered medicinal and it is also good for hang overs.
Hirofumi Yamamoto, a Japanese coffee taster who is attending agro-forestry classes at BSU discussed how coffee is selected worldwide through meticulous screening of seeds. Yamamoto who has the distinction as a “cupper” or the practice of observing the tastes and aromas of brewed coffee demonstrated how a brew is assessed through slurping freshly ground and roasted coffee beans.
Gemma Ngelangel, the owner of Gold Fish Café in Bontoc, Mountain Province hinted that every café owner must know the business inside and out. “As manager, you also need to do what your employee does and baristas should be marunong uminom ng kape” saying that it is important for all in the coffee business to appreciate coffee by heart. Ngelangel further said that coffee shops are places where people socialize therefore, the owner must also know the beautiful places of their locality making the establishment as a source of information. “Passion sells and you have to make your brand memorable, original and easy to recall” the lady entrepreneur further stated.
Maria Susana Edilo , a Tourism and Hospitality Industry Trainer and Consultant and Level 1 Barista Certified by the Barista Guild of America , who talked about specialty coffee trends and direction narrated how coffee drinking originated in Ethiopia through an accidental discovery by a goatherd who noticed the unusual behavior of his goats that nibbled on the bright red berries of a certain bush. From varied uses that range from medicinal to ceremonial drinks, coffee culture became global and it reached the country in 1740 when it was first introduced by a Spanish Franciscan Monk. Edilo explained that the roasting process produces the characteristics of the coffee that even broken beans will affect the batch of coffeeâ€&#x;s total taste because it burns faster. There is a new market and emerging trend for gourmet coffee drinkers, Edilo revealed referring to the 3rdWave Coffee where customers and buyers are particular and concerned with the cultivation, harvesting, processing and preparation methods and practices.
The barista mentor encouraged farmers to implement good agricultural practices and challenged coffee shop owners to create a culture of social and environmental responsibility by reducing plastics in their espresso packs and reuse ground coffee for other uses.
During the coffee farm tour and visit to local processors, Mayor James Edduba of Pasil town asked about the hygienic aspect concerning the Alamid coffee referring to it as animal manure. Simeon Sibayan of Bana‟s Café replied saying that the droppings of civet cat is thoroughly washed and manually cleaned as per protocol set on the high value exotic drink. Sibayan explained that of a kilo of fresh Alamid, only about 35% will be used by specialty shops and it is sold in Manila for about P34K to P35 thousand pesos while he sells it at a far lesser rate.
Sibayan opined that Philippines can never compete with Brazil but we can add value to our products. “Quality has to be imparted to our farmers so that they will also improve as entrepreneurs and target the specialty coffee shop market” Sibayan concluded. With the general understanding that coffee is gold from bean to cup, the fifty something participants were convinced after the two-day training that indeed, coffee is one industry that the Philippines can have a big break especially on the Arabica variety. AT
Outdoor Learning - BSU Agro-forestry Professor Valentino Macanes explains coffee topping to the Coffee 101 training participants by cutting the stem tops so that the plant wonâ€&#x;t grow tall and berries will be easier to harvest. Partly shown in photo observing is DTI-CAR Director Myrna Pablo.
Still Green – DTI-CAR Director Myrna Pablo (center) inspects a branch full of unripe coffee berries during the Coffee 101 Training and Mobile Learning while DTI Kalinga Provincial Director Grace Baluyan and Pasil Mayor James Edduba looks on.
Quality Control: Hirofumi Yamamoto, a Japanese coffee cupper and lecturer during the Coffee 101 Training in Sagada supervises the actual sorting of green coffee beans prior to its roasting and tasting for quality evaluation.
Coffee 101 – Food and Beverage Industry trainor Susan Edilo gives pointers to participants on how to prepare coffee and use varied brewing instruments to meet industry standards.
At opening of the Coffee 101 training, Ms Lexa Elaine Capuyan, the Secretary of the Vice Mayor of Sagada delivered a welcoming message...
Making a coffee history in the Cordillera - Participants to the Coffee 101 Training from as far as Mindanao and Visayas poses for posterity at the Shamrock Hotel at the end of the 2-day event. The smiles on the group’s faces even makes this photo far more than a certificate of completion
Farm Visits The backyard farm of Anthony and Nelly Bagiwet of Bangaan, Sagada made up of about 300 different trees, vines, flowers and vegetables were visited by the Coffee 101 participants. Coffee is the dominant crop but the presence of others explains why coffee from
Participants of the Coffee 101 had an educational interaction with officers and members of the Sagada Coffee Growers and Processors Organization (SACGPO). Simeon „Goad‟ Sibayan of Bana‟s Café is shown explaining the strenuous method of collecting and washing the exotic Alamid Coffee adding that of a kilo of gathered Alamid, only about 35% of it will be used by coffee specialty shops.
Of coffee entrepreneurs and connoisseurs By Art Tibaldo Reprint from my July 10, 2012 Sunstar Baguio column
AN OFFICIAL of the Philippine Coffee Board recently claimed that we are the coffee drinking capital of the world. Coffee has been a part of our culture and our population of coffee consumption has increased significantly to about 6500 metric tons a year making the industry looks brighter if Cordillerans unite, join hands and have only one regional coffee brand according to the PCB. Almost three decades ago, I was once brought by Michael Bengwayan who was then a training specialist of the Agricultural Training Institute to the Benguet State Universityâ€&#x;s coffee farm in Barangay Ampasit of La Trinidad, Benguet. It was there where I was first introduced to Arabica coffee farming and met Professor Benjamin Dimas, the venerable man who propagated Arabica coffee seedlings and planted it under the shades of Pine trees. Back then, I thought that all coffee beans were the same as we too had coffee bearing trees in our front yard in Baguio City. I remember that whenever the berries turn red, we knew that it was the right time to pick and lick the sweet juicy beans without swallowing it. Just like the stories of farmers selling their harvested coffee seeds and ends up buying supplies and household needs including sachets of instant and soluble coffee, I remember my mother selling cacao nuts to a buyer from Bangar, La Union and saving some for our consumption as a hot drink. Sweetened by what I later came to know as Muscovado, we settled with the kettle cooked drink while salivating at the sight of a boy drinking Ricoa Chocolate blend at the pages of Bannawag magazine. During the two-day Coffee Fiesta held recently at the Benguet State University as part of the Cordillera Month celebration, I was amused at seeing an assortment and displays of coffee products in different packaging. Aware of the precious droppings of civet cats that consumed coffee berries, the sight of kape-de-mutit being sold in its natural form was a sight to behold. Not only does it give coffee connoisseurs a taste of their liking, coffee out of civet dropping certainly makes a good conversation piece including
its price per cup. Displayed for sale during the Coffee FIE STA which actually stands for Farms and Industries Encounters through Science and Technology Agenda, were product from Kalinga Brew, Kalinga Blend, Matambong Pure Ground Coffee, Mountain Coffee, BSU Green Mountain Arabica, Cordillera Heirloom Coffee, Ygolote Coffee, Kape Enca, Kape de Abra, Arabicafe and Kalinga‟s Best among others. Baguio City was once known for its good coffee blends served in restaurants like Dainty, Star Café and Café by the Ruins. Baboo Mondonedo once confided me that theirs is just a 50-50 mix of Benguet Arabica and Barako. Some newsman would swear that Dainty‟s secret includes a mix of crushed egg shells dipped inside the brew using Ah Kong‟s socks. Now, I have a concoction of my own as I am planning to put up my coffee shop upon my retirement to be called Adobo Puto Shop. Robert Domoguen who also write his column in this paper blogs that Arabica coffee is best grown in elevations ranging from 400 to 1,400 meters above sea level in terms of taste and flavor. According to surveys done by the Department of Agriculture and BSU, the Typica introduced by the Spaniards which is the original variety of Arabica is still the best. Director Lily Ann Dimas-Lando of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD)- Applied Communication Division said during the coffee expo that her office supports initiatives to ensure the production of quality coffee beans and help define specific goals for the commodity and the industry. The daughter of Prof. Dimas whom I met years ago, Lando said during her talk at BSU that as an Igorot, she grew up with coffee having been surrounded by the culture of it as well as the science of its production. Her father pioneered the large scale production of coffee under pine trees. “My father set up the Agroforestry Special Project and for several years was the sole local consultant of the former BLISS program in its coffee production. This brought him to the whole Cordillera and even to other regions in the country. Where coffee was or could be grown, he went and taught –as he has done up to his retirement” Lando recalled. PCB‟s Co-Chair Pacita U. Juan during her presentation of the state of coffee industry in the country however said that despite the problem of low yield, aging farmer population and lack of proper post harvest facilities among many, we should create more coffee nurseries for Arabica variety and rejuvenate the old growth coffee trees. By 2020, Juan added that we will have a global deficit of coffee by about Thirty Two Million bags raising the eyebrows of many participants at the BSU gym. Having heard that, I am now considering Arabica coffee farming and I will now convince my mother to instead plant Arabica variety in her farm in San Pascual, Tuba Benguet. In planting even under the shades of trees, I am sure that we will not only inherit a gold mine but this venture will certainly help the environment with the much needed natural remedies that protect erosion and arrest pollution as well.
DTI-JICA Conduct Coffee Branding Workshop As a follow up activity to the series of meetings and conferences on coffee conducted in the Cordillera, about fifty entrepreneurs, producers, scholars and representatives from the different provinces in this upland region were regrouped in May 2014 for a coffee branding design workshop. The program was undertaken by the National Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project (NICCEP) through the Department of Trade and Industry and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) where participants brainstormed and discussed how to develop a regional brand that reflects and promotes upland Cordillera. DTI-Baguio Benguet Provincial Director Freda Gawisan who welcomed the participants said that coffee is among the priority industries being supported by the national government. For his sector‟s role, Professor Valentin Macanes of the Benguet State University narrated how their institution‟s coffee industry got to be accredited by the Organic Certification Center of the Philippines and by the Institute of Marketecology or IMO of Switzerland. JICA Design Consultant Yoritoshi Yoshida discussed through an interpreter the importance of establishing a brand for coffee to reinforce local industrial competitiveness. Yoshida likewise stressed the value of social appreciation, reputation and appeal of the product to the customer as well as the promotion strategy and attractiveness of the goods. A self-analysis exercise was conducted during the workshop that identified the strong and weak points of local coffee products and an evaluation matrix was used to mark the product‟s characteristics according to color, taste and aroma of which is used as basis in formulating the concept of the coffee brands.
Promoting Cordillera’s coffee Industry through mass media and other means. Above photo shows Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat and DOT-CAR Dir. Pura Molintas presenting coffee products in a fitting venue while DTI-Kalinga PD Grace Baluyan talks about CAR’s banner products during a television promo of IMPAKABSAT at the PTV-4 studio.
This infographics was lifted from: ZETTWOCH'S SUITCASE http://zettwoch.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-coffee-work
ks.html with special thanks to its creator who must be a coffeeologist too
Coffeeology and Me. With my coffee consumption averaging to about 5 to 6 cups daily, I am still trying to educate myself about this bitter tasting concoction made from roasted or burnt beans. In fact, I have already located a corner in my garage cum media newseum for a small cabinet that will showcase coffee of which I will label as “Coffeeology” for lack of a better term. In the course of my career that dealt not only with paints and brushes but with cameras and typewriters, I have worked and rubbed elbows with senior coffee drinkers who are themselves icons and legends in Baguio City‟s roster of fourth estate. I have seen them sip the referred black brew at the old Dainty Restaurant that ceased to function as media hub when its owner Ah Kong passed away many years ago. When computers and laptops changed the way articles and stories are typed and sent because of the easier and faster method with internet, Ah Kong‟s restaurant also reformatted into a kiosk and fastfood kind of eatery. Even its darting corner upstairs ceased but fortunately, this game of throwing needles with flight transferred to Luisa‟s Café which also offers fine black coffee. Having sucked the succulent and sweet juice from the pulp of red coffee berries when we were kids in Baguio and having planted coffee seedlings next to cacao in my mother‟s farm in the lowlands, I would say that I have started at an early age and it is now time for me to do a thesis about coffee hence my recent posts in social media.