All About Your Coffee

The Philippines is one of the few countries currently producing the four varieties of commercially-viable Arabica, Robusta, Liberica, and Excelsa. Philippine Liberica is known locally as Barako/Baraco, a coffee bean that produces a distinctively robust and powerful cup. The bigger cherries and beans are a staple in the Philippine coffee scene, primarily grown in the provinces of Batangas and Cavite. By the 1800s, coffee trees were already found in the northern city of Lipa, Batangas, and the province of Bulacan. Its propagation was encouraged by Augustinian friars, who furthered the care and cultivation of these trees.

Discover Your Taste

Arabica has been considered the best quality of coffee due to its excellent flavor and aroma. This bean is an early bearer. After two years of transplanting, it then produces berries. Arabica’s berries are oblong ellipsoid and initially green in color and later on, turn red or yellow, the indication when it is already ripe. However, this variety of coffee is susceptible to coffee rust.
Liberica or locally known as kapeng barako is known for its very strong taste and color. It is not an early bearer since it produces berries after four to five years from transplanting. It produces the biggest berry among the other varieties and is round or in a small cluster with thick and even firm pulp. What’s good about this coffee is that it is drought tolerant.
Excelsa is being compared to Liberica due to their similarity of producing berries after four to five years from transplanting. Berries being produced are a little compressed having a flat form. They are usually borne in a heavy cluster and much bigger than Arabica but smaller as being compared to Liberica.
Robusta can produce berries four years after transplanting. You will notice its umbrella-shaped growth as compared to how other coffee varieties grow. The berries are smaller than Arabica and are closely clustered. It is blood red when ripe and you will see thin pulp and even parchment.

COFFEE VARIANTS

The Philippines coffee industry is once again growing and we should be proud of it. Witness its beautiful process from bean to brew as those single-origin cherries are grown and harvested directly from the rich land in our country. Then, it was delicately hand-picked and roasted by hardworking and passionate Filipino farmers.

Arabica Coffee Beans (Coffea arabica)

Arabica beans are by far the most popular type of coffee beans, making up about 60% of the world’s coffee. These tasty beans originated many centuries ago in the highlands of Ethiopia, and may even be the first coffee beans ever consumed! The name Arabica likely comes from the beans’ popularity in 7th-century Arabia

What do they taste like?

Most gourmet coffee brands advertise that they use 100% Arabica beans. Why? Arabica coffee beans are considered the most high-quality variety. They’re known for their smooth, complex flavor and distinct lack of bitterness.