coffee – Page 2

Feb 04, 2020 Philippines

Cafe Dia

Everything is Korean except for the coffee. This is what we learned about Cafe Dia. The owner literally filled an entire container van with furniture, tableware, decorative articles, books, fixtures and a coffee roaster from Korea then shipped them to the Philippines to set up what we now find to be a very pleasant and inviting coffee shop in Angeles City, Pampanga.

And because Korea does not grow their own coffee, it makes more sense that they source their beans locally. They serve single origin Mt. Apo which they roast in-house. There is a section in the store where the whole roasting process takes place and it is easily visible to customers so anyone can actually take a peek into the process and see the roaster in action.

A bowl filled with lightly-roasted coffee beans.

A closeup shot of coffee beans in a glass bowl, in front of a latte serving as the background.

It is definitely an interesting experience walking into an undoubtedly Korean establishment (even their power sockets are of Korean standards) in Pampanga and drink a cup of Philippine coffee, which, by the way, they prepare quite well. It sends a positive message of merging cultures as they serve not only to Filipinos but to a good amount of Koreans and tourists.

A latte with a rosetta art sits in the foreground, with a desk and a chair serving as the backdrop.

Cafe Dia is in Angeles’ budding K-town area, right near the entry to Clark.

Feb 03, 2020 Coffee

“Drink Naked Coffee”

Spotted in an espresso bar that has unfortunately shuttered. This message of this neon sign seems to push for a philosophy of coffee drinking that has been a hallmark of the third wave coffee movement since it first began: “Let’s taste our coffee.” Seems obvious enough. But anyone who sits in a cafe for any significant amount of time to observe what consumers are ordering can plainly see that the philosophy seems to have remained one for purists.

Is this something that should still be pushed? Or is it something that has now passed in the interest of supporting a broader consumer base? Your thoughts would greatly be appreciated.

Jan 29, 2020 Philippines

Realizing Coffee’s True Cost

We climbed a 60-65 degree mountain face last Monday. The trek was made with a team going to track our progress in a coffee origin project that I’m working on, something separate from what we’re doing at www.dailydrinkmag.com and HoneycombManila. This 60 degree climb went straight up for at least 70 feet, the way in to see one of the coffee growing areas that’s part of our project.

There’s definitely treasure at the end of the journey, though perhaps the hike itself was the most educational and interesting part of the entire trip. At some point when we were scaling that mountain face, a member of our party, Mark says to the person at the head of the climb line, “hey, you know if you fall, it’s just a snowball effect for all of us.” It was at this point when I looked down and realized that we were now about 40 feet from the nearest landing. Yikes.

Several times, we would be walking through sections of the rain-forest that had no real trail and it was a sort of Russian roulette as to whether or not you were actually gonna put your foot through the under-growth onto solid ground or some sort of hole or slippery mud. This was particularly concerning for me because for 70 percent of the hike, we were only about a meter from the edge on our left. This meant that picking a lot of these coffee cherries involves hanging out over drops to reach the branches with fruit on them. There’s no razed plantation of neatly and conveniently lined up coffee plants here. It’s bio-diverse, integrated into the rain-forest, and it is wild. In this environment, you are really existing under nature’s terms and that means that there’s real risk involved. I don’t think I really felt safe for any of it. And that’s really something to think about.

When you drink a cup of coffee — especially an ethically sourced, re-forestation, fully-organic, shade-grown one such as this coffee is — you don’t really realize that someone actually climbs up and down these dangerous paths, lugging kilo upon kilo of cherry every day. As my brother, Kiddo Cosio of El Union Coffee says, “People just look at a spreadsheet or a grading number and decide what a coffee is worth. But you have to remember that there’s a real person on the other end of that equation.” It’s something worth pondering that next time you have a great cup of coffee. It’s a particularly good thing to think on too, if you’re in the coffee industry as a green-buyer or roaster or cafe owner.

I think that we’ve been pretty lucky so far in our test harvest for the 2019-2020 season. We just started out, and the coffees are already very delicious. Even if you made your green-buying decision based on that spreadsheet or grading number, I think you’ll be very pleased. But more than ever, as someone who has always wanted to support farmers and producers who are doing great work, I find myself closer than ever the other end of that equation.

I hope that we can serve these people well, I hope we can build a positive future for the community we are working with, both financially and in terms of social impact. And I don’t imagine that that will be a walk in the park either. That itself may be a steep, uphill climb through wild terrain. May we find real value at the end of that journey as well. May our growth as a community always bio-diverse, symbiotic, integrated, organic, and — in it’s own beautiful way — wild.

Kayo Cosio
Editor in Chief, DailyDrinkMag.com

Jan 28, 2020 Philippines

Masa Bakery and Cafe

A cup of fragrant coffee and freshly baked bread — what could possibly be more comforting? Masa Bakery and Cafe in La Union is pleasing the senses and making customers feel right at home with their baked goods that remind you of childhood and growing up in the Philippines. They built on the idea of a friendly neighborhood panaderya (bakery) and improved it by not skimping on flavor, quality and preparation.

A shot of the predominantly-grey interior of Masa Cafe. One wall of the cafe (left side of photo) is made with the same smooth concrete as the cafe floor. The wooden bar can be seen near the center of the photo. A bicycle is parked beside it. Hanging plants and basket-wrapped lamps hang from the ceiling. Two people having a conversation serves as the foreground of the image.

A top shot of a basket with a selection of Masa Bakery's pastries. On the center of the basket is a small cactus in a pot, surrounded by four plates of varying sizes and colors. One each plate is a different kind of pastry. In between two of these plates is a glass filled with beverage.

Follow @masabybarefoot on Instagram.

Jan 27, 2020 Coffee Science Editorial

Something different for this week’s Monday Espresso.

We take a break from our pressure profile tests to discuss the recent study published by an international group of scientists and Michael Cameron. He’s a barista and special projects manager at St. Ali Café, and the paper’s lead author.

A photo taken of the underside of a portafilter as it pulls a shot of espresso.

What did they find? In layman’s terms, a lighter dose, a coarser grind, and faster, lower pressure shot is supposedly more efficient because you achieve a more complete and even extraction. As for if this works, we’ll be posting our own tests and findings on next week’s Monday Espresso. We’re gonna reserve that judgement until we have adequate data from our own tests.

But something also being discussed here is the savings, where they were able to save over 5000 USD by making this adjustment. Aside from the financial side, there’s also the aspect of this being a stewardship issue in regards to savings in terms of coffee as a resource. And that’s really asking the question: if there’s not enough coffee in the world, should we not be maximizing it?

But what’s most notable from what they’ve done in the one year, international study is that they’ve tried something different and new. And they are willing to publish it too. Sometimes you just have to test, taste, and understand for yourself. Another example also from this last week is James Hoffman and his high-humidity storage test. See it on his YouTube page. He wasn’t satisfied with simply accepting commonly held beliefs as ultimate truth and started testing for himself.

Ultimately, the most important lesson here is that the science is still not set. It’s important to try new things. To push the limits and willing to be the first one to be wrong until you are the first one who is right.

Keep experimenting.

Jan 21, 2020 Hongkong

Hazel & Hershey: a family run roastery and coffee lab

Among the busiest and trendiest spots in Central Hong Kong is Peel street. All the food lovers and bar hoppers gravitate towards this area because of the restaurants and bars that have popped up over the last half decade. Cafes have taken over too, of course. One of the stronger coffee brands to have rooted themselves along Peel Street is Hazel & Hershey, a family run roastery and coffee lab, fully dedicated to serving high quality coffee.

Upon entering their store, we were immediately drawn to their retail section where they have a plethora of coffee gadgets and equipment for sale. Any coffee geek would enjoy perusing their shelves too because they have great prices! But after ordering coffee, we also noticed how creatively they’ve designed and utilized their space, making it ideal for meeting with people, study as well as chilling out.

In case you aren’t familiar with Peel Street, it is a small and very steep street. The hike up can be quite grueling if you’re not used to it, so having Hazel and Hershey somewhere midpoint is quite the perfect rest stop. They’ve even set up outdoor seating and ledges with cushions so you can take it easy and catch your breath while enjoying a cup of coffee. It can be quite pleasant, too, during the chilly months in Hong Kong like right about now.

Unlike many coffee shops, Hazel and Hershey’s general look and ambiance is not serious at all. Even their logo has playful elements in it. Their storefront is chocolate brown with giant drips of teal color which is definitely a head turner. If their vibrant facade does not instantly draw you in then the smell of coffee and the idea of a quick break with a good cuppa definitely will.

Follow @hazelnhershey

Jan 04, 2020 Hongkong

Why 50

Coffee at Why 50, at least at the time we visited them, came from Berlin’s Bonanza Coffee Roasters. They are very forward about this detail, with minimalist, white packaging sat on the counter top. Accompanying the bags of coffee are some extra stickers for customers and fans to take home, plus little cards with information about each coffee being offered.

The coffee itself is very lightly roasted. One might say that it is rotated as little as possible, resulting in very expressive flavors that are exciting and experimental.

We ordered a single origin, natural process Brazil that was farmed by Antonio Garcia and his family at what is described as “unusually high altitudes for Brazil.”

It was an almost ludicrously restricted shot on the cafe’s Slayer Espresso Machine. The extraction was about a minute long and the resulting liquid was sticky and like a syrup. And delicious! Sweet, tight, and concentrated tanginess. It’s not what you would expect when you think of a coffee from Brazil.

And that strain of mold-breaking matches well with the Why 50 coffee shop vibe. Design-wise, the cafe is young. On first glance, the exteriors don’t even look like a cafe, until you take a closer look.

Wheat paste out on front, an eclectic seldom of art pieces inside, and a graffiti-esqe branding would lead you to expect this to be a hang out for mostly young professionals and artists. But we found that the cafe was being enjoyed by people from all ages, taking advantage of an atmosphere that is extremely conducive to conversation.

Dec 22, 2019 Packaging Design

CMCR Drip Bags

This cup of coffee came out of a packet. And it’s awesome.

Given to us by Matt over at @commonmancoffee in Singapore, he said he wanted us to test it out on the flight home to our home-base in Manila. Unfortunately, the cabin crew wouldn’t let us cabin-brew due to turbulence, a situation where hot liquids are not served at altitude. As a result, we had to settle with brewing it on solid ground, at home the next day.

The coffee is one we are well acquainted with: Ardi Sidama, an Ethiopia single origin that Common Man has championed for several years now. We’ve tried it in Malaysia. We’ve tried it in Manila. We’ve tried it Singapore. It’s delicious! So how did the drip bag fare? Popping open the packet, we were greeted by the familiar aroma of Ardi: floral and fruity. It’s clear that the flush of nitrogen gas used when packing the drip bag has been quite successful, as fragrance usually deteriorates quickly after grinding the coffee.

Following the instructions on the packet, we added coffee until the cup was full. It actually says to add 200ml of water, but we didn’t bother measuring, as it seems like this drip bag is most likely intended for times you don’t really have equipment with you. But we let the bag steep in the cup for 4 minutes in total, even when the water had reached the level of the bag inside the cup.

The result is quite pleasant. For this brew, not terribly fruity, but incredibly and unmistakably floral. Bravo!

Dec 18, 2019 Manila Philippines

DC7: Our Daily Coffee

This is DC7. It’s the 7th iteration of our OG Brew Bar’s Custom Coffee Blend dubbed “Daily Coffee.”

We’re always remixing, growing, and adapting our taste to the changing flavors that the seasons bring. However, DC7 is designed to create a new standard cup that is both flexible and understandable. We all love exciting light-roast coffees, but have found that the general public still want a coffee that provides them with that comforting cup that can be a daily habit. This window is where the DC line of blends live.

Our DC7 is an omni-roast comprised of 30% Guatemala HueHuetenango, which we usually get from the December and January harvest. This is the season when the cherries are more consistent in moisture content and hardness. These beans are washed process, which gives it the beautiful sweetness and fruity flavor notes.

Now add 30% Columbia Supremo, a coffee from Tolima in the Andean region. These are Natural process and give the blend that little bit of spice.

Add last but not least, 40% Mt.Apo, from BACOFA Coffee, we don’t have any specific micro-lot to site for our source, but the beans we get are very consistent, honey processed, and contribute greatly to making the coffee understandable to the local palate.

This blend results in a coffee taste that is sweet and fruity up front, with lots of different chocolate flavour notes blending into nutty tones. The brew is rich with a full body and a smooth acidity with a less bitter finish.

Dec 13, 2019 Manila Philippines

The Den

Looking for a reason to take a trip to the historic street of Escolta? The Den may be a perfect excuse. The cafe recently renamed their place as The Den Coffee & Contemporary Culture in an effort to develop a hub for local artists and coffee enthusiasts. It’s actually quite hard to find the place if you don’t know what you’re looking for because it’s embedded deep inside HUB: Make Lab, a marketplace for creative startups on the ground floor of the iconic First United Building.

The Den has a special beverage, “The Berg’s,” which is named after the old department store that occupied their current space in the 30’s. The beverage is a mix of espresso, coconut milk blend, and muscovado syrup. It’s served hot, but we recommend getting the chilled “iced berg” variant for a more refreshing coconut flavor.

We commend The Den for holding the fort, giving homage to what was once the shopping district of Manila. They’ve done a great job keeping the history of Escolta alive and making it relevant today by forming their own retail and shopping community.

Follow @thedenmanila on Instagram.