BCAA owner Cherry Cruz translates that awareness to coffee quality with the vision “to be Asia’s lead for proper coffee education, by creating an awareness of specialty coffee’s potential for sustainable regional development in the fields of agriculture, entrepreneurship, roasting and cupping, and coffee preparation.”

BCAA is the only Coffee Education Center in the country to host two Specialty Coffee Association (SCA)-approved laboratories in Manila and Davao. Both laboratories went through stringent measures to be approved by the SCA body and the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), both based in the USA. With this, BCAA has become the go-to venue for all Q and R Grading classes in the country.

Cruz further added, “BCAA is now spearheading Coffee Science research projects with private universities for future reference on Philippine coffee education.” These led to ACDI/VOCA and USDA sponsored projects, in partnership with PCBI, to provide continuing coffee quality education for the Philippines.

BCAA was the first to offer Q grading classes in the country.

Anj Ferreria-Tan, Managing Partner of BCAA, enumerates BCAA coffee breakthroughs. “BCAA brings coffee education to the international level with coffee study tours. The most recent one was in Seoul, South Korea where students were brought to Korean cafes for cupping lessons with SCA instructor Paul Kim. The Korean culture is an example of how culture dictates coffee drinking lifestyle,” she pointed out. In fact, the first batch of BCAA delegates represented the school for the ASEAN Coffee Federation barista training on May 2017.

BCAA is the first to run the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Barista Pathways level 1 and 2, under the instructions of Jingbo Dengin November 2015 and March 2016

The future of coffee in the Philippines never smelled this good and exciting. BCAA is set to unveil the new Coffee Skills Program of SCA in April 2018. The new program focuses on green coffee, roasting, and sensory modules. Meanwhile, the fourth Coffee Science Series with Dr. Manuel Diaz focuses on cold coffee brewing, with coffee blending and roasting in May 2018.

BCAA has paved the way for quality coffee and coffee education in the country consistent with how the school wants “to help Filipinos progress in this field and boost the coffee culture and industry in the Philippines.”

(article by Ann Kuy / photos by BCAA)

The competition is supported and sponsored by the Mindanao Productivity in Agriculture Commerce and Trade (MinPACT) project, a project implemented by ACDI/VOCA and funded by the United States Department of Agriculture. KP’s objective is to improve farmer income through increased production, productivity, and quality of coffee, cacao, and coconut.

Since March 2016 the PCBI has been hosting cupping trainings in coordination with the Barista and Coffee Academy of Asia (BCAA) to improve the understanding of farmers, roasters, and retailers on coffee quality. Recently, an Arabica Q or quality exam was held to graduate Filipino Q graders among the attendees of the past courses. PCBI is the In-Country Partner (ICP) of the CQI, the esteemed authority on specialty coffee based in the USA. Specialty coffee is coffee that scores higher than 80 points on a 100-point scale, the scoring is based on 10 attributes and defects of the coffee. The higher the score, the better price it commands in the specialty market.

Farmer associations and cooperatives as well as individual farmers are encouraged to collect five-kilo samples of their best lot of Arabica and or Robusta green beans with a moisture no higher than 11%. These samples, limited to one sample per association, cooperative, or individual farmer, will be cupped in late February by a panel of experts selected by CQI to do the difficult job.

Farmers need to have the volume required for the samples. They are encouraged to retain the quantity of the same coffee in the sample because if it wins, it may fetch a higher price after the competition.

There is also a special category for Liberica and Excelsa coffee varieties which are also found in the Philippines.

Samples will be received by specific State Universities and Colleges, namely Benguet State University, Cavite State University, Mindanao State University, Southern Philippines Agri-Business and Marine and Aquatic School of Technology, Sultan Kudarat State University, and by ACDI/VOCA in Davao City. A receiving protocol has been provided to those designated as receivers of coffee samples. Meanwhile, farmers are encouraged to start selectively harvesting and appropriately processing their best green coffee lots for the competition.

International cuppers will be coming from February 27 to March 4 for the cupping exercise. Final results will be announced in early March.

The winning Arabica and Robusta coffees and a representative of the cooperative, association, or the individual farmer who produced them will be sent to the upcoming Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) convention in Seattle, Washington, USA on April 2017. Other coffees that have high scores will also be shared with potential buyers and interested stakeholders during SCAA.

Kape Pilipino Cup Quality Competition Official Rules

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For more information, you may call 0908-8831218 or email admin.pcbi@gmail.com.