Gab Cruz drinks coffee daily, and at times, twice, depending on the workload that needs to be done.

Coffee has been her go-to “caffeine” drink in juggling her work as a support staff in a research center at the University of Santo Tomas and her graduate studies.

She budgets around P65 to P200 for her daily coffee fix, spending more during a pay day.

“The second cup must be more than the first cup, and it is usually iced. My classes are until 9 p.m. and sometimes I feel sleepy in the afternoon,” Cruz, 26, said. “I like my coffee somehow sweet, but not too sweet like mocha.”

The likes of Cruz are driving the domestic demand for coffee, thus encouraging local Filipino farmers to produce more beans.

In 2023, the Philippines produced 30,000 metric tons of green coffee beans, a slight recovery from the 29,957 MT output in 2022.

Philippine Coffee Board Inc. president Chit Juan said farmers produced more Excelsa and Liberica beans since consumers demand more of these coffee varieties.

Juan said Liberica and Excelsa offer the sweet and fruity flavor profile that consumers like Cruz are looking for.

“(Farmers) are interested now with Excelsa and Liberica as they can get better prices than Robusta. Liberica and Excelsa are now fetching about P500 (per kilogram) while Robusta is between P160 and P180,” Juan told The STAR.

Coffee Liberica production inched up by 7.8 percent last year to 238.18 MT while Coffee Excelsa output expanded by almost three percent on an annual basis to 1,826 MT, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed.

Filipino coffee drinkers are becoming “more sophisticated” with their demand, creating a “hierarchy of preferences” in the market today, Juan pointed out.

Nonetheless, Juan noted that demand for instant coffee, which are usually made from robusta, continues to grow since it is the cheapest product accessible and available in the market.

“Demand is coming from young Filipinos. It is still that sweet demographic profile of the country,” she said.

Coffee demand is also driven by sectors like the business process outsourcing wherein employees seek caffeine to stay late at night, Juan added.

Juan said the advent of e-commerce has made coffee more accessible and cheaper for local consumers and for entrepreneurs interested in setting up shop.

According to Juan, Filipinos became more interested with coffee during the COVID-19 pandemic since they had a lot of time available at home, citing the case of the Dalgona coffee craze.

“It’s easy to open a coffee shop today. You can just buy a coffee machine online,” she said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic and the internet caused that. A lot of people now have knowledge about coffee beans,” she added.

The country’s production of other coffee varieties like robusta grew by nearly three percent to 22,000 MT while arabica output declined by 9.4 percent to 5,955 MT, PSA data showed.

In recent years, the country saw the rise of homegrown community coffee brands that were thrown into the mainstream spotlight like Pickup Coffee and TOMO Coffee.
“They are opening left and right,” Juan said.

Juan added that the internet, particularly “YouTube University” has also turned ordinary Filipinos into baristas who are capable of serving and competing at a professional level. “Recently we judged a competition and the barista learned everything through YouTube and she was good,” she said.

This post first appeared on Philippine Star by Jasper Emmanuel Arcalas.

The post Millennials, Gen Zs perk up coffee production in Philippines appeared first on Philippine Coffee Board.

The best way to get an overview of the Philippine coffee industry is to join coffee farm tours, thanks to the Philippine Coffee board . Before I started this tour last February 2018, my limited knowledge on coffee beans rested on the difference between Arabica and Barako beans. All I know was I bought Philippine coffee either from the Cordillera region or Cavite.

I certainly learned a lot during the tour with additional inputs from “Philippine Coffee Industry Roadmap 2017-2022.”. Let me give you some of the highlights:

1. The Philippine Coffee’s current production volumes is only 37,000 metric tons (MT), with an area of 117,454 hectares (ha), and an average yield of 300 kilograms (kg) per hectare.

2. Philippine climate and land are suitable to growing four coffee varieties – Robusta, Arabica, Excelsa and Liberica. The most common variety grown in the country is Robusta, which accounted for 69 percent of total production in 2015. Robusta is mainly used for instant coffee. Next is Arabica, which contributes 24 percent (%). Arabica is mostly cultivated in high elevation areas (1000 meters above sea level) and sells at a premium price. It is primarily used for brewing or blending. Thevother varieties are Excelsa and Liberica (kapeng barako).

3. Brazil is the top coffee global producer in 2014 with a volume of 2,804,070 MT of Green Coffee Beans (GCB). It is followed by Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia and Ethiopia. However, the Philippines ranked 25th with a volume of
37,727 MT of GCB. Our country used to be the 4th global producers many years ago.

4. Coffee consumption is dominated by soluble coffee, which is a shift from local ‘nilaga’ brewed coffee. Recent resurgence of the roast, ground and brew sector of the market is changing the coffee market.

5. Majority of coffee farmers have an average farm size of one to two ha, with most farms owned by the farmers themselves. Most farms are intercropped with vegetables, coconut, fruit trees and forest trees (especially in the case of Arabica coffee). There are very few commercial scale plantations in the country.

6. The continuous drop in coffee production was caused by various factors such as: increase number of coffee growers shifting to other crops, old age of trees with limited or no rejuvenation; poor farm practices – limited knowledge on appropriate coffee technology of farmers, aged farmers; limited access to certified planting materials and limited access to credit.

7. Locally-made ground coffee brands available in the market include Aguinaldo blend, Altura coffee, Café Amadeo, Café de Lipa, Café Chico, Coffee Alamid (civet coffee), Davao coffee (variants Robusta, Arabica, Excelsa), Gourmet café, Kalinga blend, Kalinga Robusta premium coffee, Kalinga brew, Kalinga Musang coffee, Kape Isla, Magallaya brew premium coffee (Excelsa), Monk’s blend, Mt. Apo Civet coffee, Musang coffee roasted beans, Negros Rainforest, Rocky Mountain (variants Mountain Blend and Classic Blend) and Sagada coffee, among others. The products are manufactured by entrepreneurs, mostly operating on a small scale. Most derived their brand names from the place where they are being produced

8. Coffee growers and farm-based roasters concerns include quality of production, lack of quality beans, poor post-harvest management, inadequate knowledge on modern technologies and minimal information on market access, trends and opportunities. To address these issues, National Government Agencies (NGAs) are collaborating to implement programs that develop the coffee industry

9. I also learned the differences among the green coffee beans.

This is arabica. It has an “s” shape in the center.

Excelsa has a pointy tip.

This is robusta. Straight in the center.

Liberica beans are larger than other than the others, often asymmetrical, and is the only coffee bean in the world that has such an irregular shape.

There is more to learn about the Coffee industry but the lack of coffee production inspired our family to continue on and become a coffee producers ourselves and in the process help our farmers in the neighborhood.

Source: Philippine Coffee Industry Roadmap 2017-2022

The post A Coffee Farm Tour in Cavite, Philippines appeared first on Philippine Coffee Board.

The local coffee industry has been facing many challenges, with only 33 percent of coffee beans in the market produced locally due to various reasons such as lack of capital, limited knowledge on tree cultivation, and pest control among small and backyard farmers.

Even after the coffee beans are harvested, farmers must also face competitive pricing from international exporters.

GCash and PCBI aim to educate and encourage Filipinos to support local products and at the same time, provide opportunities for women, which compose 50 percent of the farmers.

The Philippine Coffee Board is a private sector-led group, established in 2002 by coffee experts to develop and promote quality Filipino coffee through technical assistance and credit programs to farmers and help them market and promote local coffee for domestic and export markets.

This project will provide much-needed long-term support to local farmers in Cavite, Benguet, Iloilo, Davao and Basilan, enabling them to start their own backyard farms.

This program will also educate them on how to plant local coffee seedlings, learn the science of natural coffee farming and experience local brewing.

By the end of 2023, PCBI, on behalf of GCash, will begin planting 50,000 seedlings in identified areas such as Cavite and Benguet.

The post GCash, PH Coffee Board to strengthen local coffee industry appeared first on Philippine Coffee Board.

GCash CEO and President Martha Sazon and Philippine Coffee Board Inc. President Chit Juan

MANILA, Philippines — A groundbreaking collaboration between GCash, through GForest, and the Philippine Coffee Board is poised to reshape the local coffee scene—offering a unique opportunity for individuals to actively contribute to sustainable coffee farming, as well as to support community livelihood while protecting the environment.

The joint agroforestry initiative aims to revitalize the local coffee sector through tree plantings and to assist local farmers and their families by providing the necessary capital to start planting coffee seedlings.

Last August 17 at the Philippine Coffee Board (PCBI) Technology Hub, GCash announced that the partnership will commence with the planting of 50,000 seedlings in identified areas in Benguet, Cavite, Iloilo, Davao and Basilan.

Over the next two years, the project will expand, adding 50,000 trees annually, resulting in over 200,000 coffee trees planted.

GCash and PCBI during the partnership launch last August 17 at the PCBI Technology Hub.

With a user base exceeding 14 million nationwide, GForest strategically taps into its vast network to seamlessly engage and enable its users to help via its digital platform.

According to Winsley Bangit, GCash head of New Businesses, for every tree planted by a user on the GForest feature on GCash, GForest will plant one actual coffee tree for free.

“GForest is the biggest reforestation platform in the Philippines, and we want to work with many partners so we don’t just provide a digital solution for cashless payments, but also help them build and protect their communities from different risks, and even bring potential improvement in their livelihoods,” Bangit told Philstar.com. 

Bitter struggles in local coffee landscape

Coffee has been part of Filipinos’ everyday routine, so much so that coffee is now no longer just a morning drink, but a beverage for any time of the day.

Per the data cited by GForest, Philippines’ coffee consumption is one the highest in the world and the highest in ASEAN. However, local coffee harvests account for only 30% of the national consumption, and the majority is imported from neighboring countries.

Women coffee farmers of GForest and PCBI.

PCBI president Chit Juan emphasized that there’s really a challenge on supply and a need for more trees to cater to the local demand.

“Kulang na kulang ang supply for our local demand. Ang challenge is kailangan natin ireplace ang old trees and plant new ones. Hindi madali na pagtanimin ang mga tao, that’s what we are addressing.”

Moreover, GForest and PCBI identified the lack of capital among small and backyard farmers as one of the key factors contributing to the low coffee production.

Farmers are often discouraged from cultivating coffee due to limited knowledge of tree cultivation and pest protection, as well as the challenging pricing from international exporters.

Brewing opportunities for farmers, coffee industry

Through the consumer-driven effort, GForest and PCBI aim to enable farmers and provide them capital to initiate their farms and create a new and sustainable source of livelihood,

The influence of the GForest movement reaches far beyond reforestation; it is also dedicated to improving the livelihoods of local communities through socio-economic empowerment.

GCash President and CEO Martha Sazon plants a coffee tree

In diverse GForest locations, local farmers are not only engaged and educated, but also compensated for their committed involvement in planting and nurturing trees over a period ranging from two to five years. Furthermore, these farmers are incentivized for their contribution to maintaining a robust tree survival rate.

With PCBI’s expertise, farmers will be equipped with a science-based approach which will then improve their productivity, leading to more produce, a bigger impact and income to the downstream value chain.

“There’s an end-to-end value chain as there are so many things that go into coffee consumption, from the farm to your cup,” Bangit shared. “As we support farmers, we make an even bigger impact because we support the entire value chain. The trees in turn become livelihood sources, it multiplies.”

Enabling consumer-driven impact with tech

Say you’re a heavy coffee drink, how many trees do you need to plant? PCBI president Chit Juan gave a rough estimate of around 12 trees a year.

“12 trees a year is around 24 kilos of coffee. Two kilos a month is about 200 cups of coffee, or around six cups a day.” she shared with Philstar.com. “‘Yong itatanim mo, ‘yon din ang iinumin mo.”

The joint agroforestry initiative between GCash and PCBI aims to revitalize the local coffee sector through tree plantings and to assist local farmers and their families by providing the necessary capital to start planting coffee seedlings.

With GForest’s technology in the picture, planting coffee trees is within your thumb’s reach. Every time GCash users pay bills, send money, buy load and save digitally in-app, they earn green energy points that can be used to virtually plant trees on GForest—such as mangroves, narra, yakal, molave, coconut and now, coffee.

As of June 2023, GCash through GForest, has already planted 2.5 million actual trees, surpassing its initial target of planting 2.3 million trees by the end of 2023.

“With GForest, we’re brewing change, one coffee tree at a time. Join us in planting coffee trees and helping our coffee farmers—it’s more than just coffee, it’s a catalyst for positive change,” Bangit ended.

The post GForest, Philippine Coffee Board partner to boost local coffee industry; over 200,000 coffee trees to flourish appeared first on Philippine Coffee Board.

With GForest, you can now plant coffee trees and help local farmers

Editor’s note: This content is sponsored by GCash and was produced by BrandRap, the sales and marketing arm of Rappler. No member of the news and editorial team participated in the production of this piece.

Did you know that you can help plant coffee trees through GCash’s GForest?

GCash formed a partnership with the Philippine Coffee Board, Inc., which means that users can now actively participate in helping local farmers grow and harvest coffee beans.

Want to know how? Watch the video to find out.

The post Love your coffee? Love your coffee farmers, too, with the help of GCash appeared first on Philippine Coffee Board.

CEBU, Philippines — The Philippine Coffee Board Inc., (PCBI) is working with GCash to improve the Philippine’s coffee production, by employing a science-based approach to plant at least 200,000 coffee trees across the country.

Through GCash’s GForest, its digital tree-planting movement, this initiative is seen to re-claim the Philippines’ lead in coffee production worldwide.

The local coffee industry has been facing many challenges, with only 33 percent of coffee beans in the market being produced locally due to various reasons, such as lack of capital, limited knowledge of tree cultivation, and pest control among small and backyard farmers. Even after the coffee beans are harvested, farmers must also face competitive pricing from international exporters.

According to Martha Sazon, GCash President and chief executive officer (CEO), the partnership aims to educate and encourage Filipinos to support local products and at the same time provide opportunities for women, which compose 50 percent of the farmers.

“Using GCash not only allows our users to reduce their carbon emission by going digital but also allows them to take an active role in our reforestation efforts via GForest. Through this partnership with PCBI, we envision building agroforests that will not only help fight climate change but also provide sustainable livelihoods to farmers and support the Philippine Coffee industry,” said Sazon.

The PCBI is a private sector-led group established in 2002 by coffee experts to develop and promote quality Filipino coffee through technical assistance and credit programs to farmers and help them market and promote local coffee for domestic and export markets.

This project will provide much-needed long-term support to local farmers in Cavite, Benguet, Iloilo, Davao, and Basilan, enabling them to start their own backyard farms. This program will also educate them on how to plant local coffee seedlings, learn the science of natural coffee farming, and experience local brewing.

PCBI president Chit Juan shared that the Philippine coffee industry’s demand is roughly around 133 million kilograms, which translates to each person now consuming 3 kilograms per capita. This makes the Philippines the highest in ASEAN and the second in Asia markets in per capita consumption, as of the recent report of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

“I’d like to thank GCash for really appreciating this good cause in planting coffee because although it’s still a far target to self-sufficiency with us only producing 41,000 metric tons out of 133,000; we would definitely be moving the needle with our partnership,” said Juan.

By the end of 2023, PCBI, on behalf of GCash, will begin planting 50,000 seedlings in identified areas such as Cavite and Benguet. In the next two years, the project will expand to meet the goal of planting over 200,000 coffee trees.

Shade trees will also be planted to protect the coffee trees. Shade-grown coffee plantations will help mitigate carbon emissions by capturing and storing carbon through photosynthesis and incorporating it into the plant system. The entire coffee agroforestry ecosystem will act as a carbon sink that can help combat global warming and rising temperatures.

This collaborative project is part of GCash’s GForest initiative, the biggest digital tree-planting movement in the country, which allows GCash users to plant a tree for free by collecting “green energy points” earned from using the app’s various services. These points will be used to plant a virtual tree, and in turn, GCash, together with its local and international partners, will plant an actual tree.

Since its launch in 2019, 14 million users have already joined GForest and planted three million virtual trees. To date, GCash has already planted a total of 2.5 million actual trees on their behalf.

GCash is encouraging users to take part of the green movement by joing GForest. To become a ‘Green Hero’, tap GForest in the GCash app; read the user agreement, and click ‘I want to help!’ then allow access to contacts and health app. Once accomplished, one start collecting energy points.

The post Coffee Board Taps Digital Tree-Planting Movement appeared first on Philippine Coffee Board.

FILIPINO coffee farmers can excel globally by prioritizing taste and quality, ensuring traceability at the farm level, and joining cooperatives, according to an industry expert.

“You could be organic and fairly traded, but if the coffee doesn’t taste good, to begin with, it’ll never make the grade,” said Pacita U. Juan, president and co-chair of the Philippine Coffee Board, Inc. (PCBI).

The PCBI, established in 2002 to promote Philippine coffee, emphasizes the importance of taste for success in the industry.

Farmers are trained from the early stages to taste their coffee, allowing them to identify areas for improvement prior to market entry, according to Ms. Juan.

Adding value at the farm level entails the painstaking process of forgoing strip picking — or the method of stripping off all the fruit from trees, thereby yielding a mix of ripe and not-so-ripe fruit.

Quality coffee is when only what’s ripe is harvested, Ms. Juan said.

Coffee farms in the Philippines are backyard farms, she noted. This makes the manual process of having to go back to their farms once a week as more fruits ripen labor-intensive.

“A farmer from Cavite will get someone from Bicol, or a farmer from Davao will get somebody from Cotabato,” she added. 

“It happens globally. A farmer from Mexico might get help from a Guatemalan. Whatever is contiguous… you will get somebody who will charge you cheaper labor.”

Increasing the buying price of coffee — from P120 per kilo back then to now P500-800 per kilo for the Arabica variant — incentivizes farmers to pick only the ripe cherries.

“The best-tasting coffees will go into auctions where a farmer, instead of just getting P500-800 per kilo, may get P2,000… for maybe a microplot. It’s a good incentive,” Ms. Juan said.

INT’L MARKETS
Between 2020 and 2021, approximately 166.63 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee were consumed worldwide, marking an increase from the previous year’s 164 million bags, as reported by statistics portal Statista in March.

South America has taken the lead in satisfying the preferences of coffee enthusiasts by producing around 78 million 60-kilogram bags in 2021.

Additionally, the United States has recorded the highest coffee market revenue, amounting to $85 billion.

According to Statista, a notable trend in the coffee market is the growing demand for specialty coffee. In a separate 2023 report, it highlighted that consumers are actively seeking unique and high-quality coffee experiences, exploring diverse flavor profiles, and appreciating the artistry and craftsmanship involved in coffee production.

This emerging market demand presents an opportunity for growth, said Ms. Juan.

TRACEABILITY
Traceability also appeals to global buyers.

“If you’re asking for the recipe to successfully enter foreign or export markets, ensure traceability,” said Ms. Juan. “Quality, followed by traceability. That will catch the attention of international coffee buyers.”

She said that putting your name on your coffee signifies your commitment to the product. “During our [PCBI] trainings, we tell them, ‘Don’t put your name if you’re not proud of your coffee.’”

“We make an effort to know the farmer, so when we bring their coffee to countries like Malaysia or Singapore, it carries the farmer’s name,” she said, highlighting that it has become a global trend for farmers to label their produce.

Mere mention of Philippine coffee does not hold much weight, according to Ms. Juan.

“You need to specify, ‘I have Philippine Liberica from a single estate in Alfonso, Cavite, and the farmer’s name is so-and-so.’ Do you see how the price has increased?” she added.

She also said that the price competition is not solely about the coffee beans. The added value, including traceability, organic practices, sustainability, and fair agricultural prices, enhances what would otherwise be considered just Philippine coffee.

The Philippines’ foreign trade service corps, with offices across the globe, knows how to sell coffee “in a way that aligns with global buying preferences,” according to Ms. Juan.

She described a 2019 briefing by the Philippine Coffee Board with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as a “watershed moment.”

“We are pleased that the DTI listened to us,” she said.

“Don’t provide it to them already roasted,” she noted, highlighting that overseas roasters prefer to roast their own coffee.

“Each culture has different roast preferences. Germans may prefer medium dark, while Norwegians might enjoy medium roast. A roaster understands the local market’s demand for roast levels,” she said.

Opportunities also abound among second-generation immigrants in North America, she added.

The California branch of Blue Bottle Coffee, Inc., a US-headquartered coffee chain with a majority stake owned by the Nestlé group, sells Philippine coffee, she said. Switzerland’s Blaser Café does as well.

Ms. Juan also listed coffee businesses run by Filipino-Americans that sell locally grown coffee.

“Teofilo Coffee Company of Los Alamitos and Mostra Coffee of San Diego. These are coffee shops started by Fil-Ams who want to reconnect with their roots,” she said. “I’ve met them, and they’re very proud to serve Filipino coffee.”

COOPERATIVES
Another secret is to join cooperatives, Ms. Juan said. It is better to work with a group than go alone, she added.

She also emphasized how farmers in cooperatives are exposed to competition.

“Cooperatives will probably even have a cooperative-wide competition,” she noted.

Evaluating for quality entails checking the defect count, the size of the bean, and the taste of the commodity itself. This process can be done through the Coffee Quality Institute’s Q grading system, as well as the A grading system by the Association of Southeast Nations Coffee Federation, of which Ms. Juan is vice-president.

Producing consistent coffee can be compared to nurturing a relationship, Ms. Juan also said.

“It’s really a relationship… a farmer has to do this consistently for them to remain in the minds of buyers,” she said.

“We had an experience before where they won, but the next year they let go — so their coffee was not sustained. It’s a season-to-season initiative.”

HISTORY
Ms. Juan started a coffee shop in the 1990s and began serving only local coffee when she realized people would always ask for it.

It was also around that time when she discovered the growing gap between the increase in consumption and the decrease in production.

“For the business to be sustainable — and our business then was what would be a 70-store chain — we had to get enough coffee around the country. That led me to the Philippine Coffee Board,” she said.

“Over the last five to seven years, farmers have significantly improved the kind of coffee they produce and process,” she added.

According to Ms. Juan, Filipino farmers are now more aware of the types of coffee produced all over the world.

“You can’t just say your product tastes like coffee,” she said.

“It has to have some flavor nuance. Barako [the Liberica variant], they say, is like langka or jackfruit. Then it might as well taste like good jackfruit and not an off-tasting jackfruit that tastes like grass,” she added.

The post Optimizing Opportunity in Specialty Coffee Markets appeared first on Philippine Coffee Board.

ABTC 2023 will also be Philippines’ first international Coffee Competition to be held in the country. More than 60 of the top baristas from countries around the ASEAN Plus region will participate, forming about 16 teams consisting of four baristas each. This year, the championship offers an exciting cash prize of USD$11,000 for the winning teams. This edition of ABTC will feature the first-ever participation of a non-ASEAN member participating in the competition, as baristas from Hong Kong will make their debut in this esteemed competition. 

“We are grateful for the continued support and rapid growth of ABTC” said Mr Victor Mah, President of the ASEAN Coffee Federation. “My special thanks to Ms Pacita U. Juan, President of the Philippine Coffee Board (PCB) as well as Mr Joel B. Pascual, President of WOFEX 2023 for their commitment in hosting this year’s championship.” 

The event is also supported and locally hosted by the Philippine Coffee Board, a member of the ASEAN Coffee Federation. 

“The Philippine Coffee Board remains committed to working with our partners in ASEAN,” said Ms Pacita U. Juan, President of PCB. “We are proud to host the upcoming championship and firmly believe this partnership will help promote and highlight our Philippine coffees to the region.” 

This edition of ABTC will be held alongside WOFEX 2023, the largest and most effective tradeshow in the region, with hundreds of exhibitors and brands from various food industries, providing an exciting backdrop for the premier coffee competition of the region.

“We are excited to see the championship in action at WOFEX,” said Mr Joel B. Pascual, President of WOFEX. “The ASEAN Barista Team Championship is one of the premier coffee competitions in the region, bringing a unique competition format with consistently high levels of performance.”  

Since its inception, the ASEAN Barista Team Championship has successfully proven itself as one of the top coffee championships in the region. This edition of the competition has secured many prominent brands in the industry as sponsors, such as LaCimbali, Mazzer, FrieslandCampina, MILKLAB, MONIN, Claytan, Duralex, UCC Ueshima Coffee Philippines Inc and Commune. 

The post First International Coffee Competition in the Philippines appeared first on Philippine Coffee Board.

Country Lead Trainer Robert Francisco led the two-day intensive class with attendees from a wide range of occupations. The students had a field day trying out the espresso machines and learning how to steam milk and pour but also had a challenging last hour as Francisco gave them written exams.

Commune owner Ros Juan, Trainer Vanessa Caceres, and Assistant Trainer Adrian Bersaba aligned standards for the OJT run for the attendees.

The success of the first run made us set the next schedule for Feb. 9-10, 2023 also at UCC Coffee Academy and On the Job (OJT) at Commune Café in Poblacion, Makati.

The test results and the OJT assessment will be handed over to the ACI for the release of the certificates for all the attendees.

For more information or to reserve a slot for the next class, do email admin.pcbi@gmail.com.

Photos by Keith Dador, Vanessa Caceres, and Leann Carla Adan

The post ASEAN COFFEE INSTITUTE LAUNCHES BARISTA CLASS LEVEL 1 IN THE PHILIPPINES appeared first on Philippine Coffee Board.

In Manila, the sphere was also introduced informally via social media, with The Brew Tonight host Ros Juan interviewing Victor Leong, one of the lead trainors of the ASEAN Coffee Federation’s institute. Victor and Ros discussed how timely the launch of the Flavor sphere is, considering the growing number of coffee cuppers and tasters in ASEAN and the rest of Asia.

“There are flavors you cannot find in western models,” says Juan. Leong echoes the sentiments of cuppers who would like producers and farmers to be able to associate the taste of their coffees with fruits or flavors in their milieu or environment. “You need to be conscious when eating different food and identifying exotic Asian flavors,” says Leong. “With today’s lifestyles people rush through eating, but we must focus to observe flavor changes,” he continues.

The time has come for flavors like Tamarind and Chico to be included in such a flavor reference chart. Even pandan as a flavor nuance is part of the ASEAN flavor sphere. Asian cuppers and tasters will now have a deeper more complex analysis of their coffees, and relate such flavors to everyday food and beverage available in their local scene.

To download the ASEAN Coffee Flavor Sphere visit the ASEAN Coffee Institute.

The post ASEAN FLAVOUR SPHERE LAUNCHED appeared first on Philippine Coffee Board.