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| Philippine Business
Magazine: Volume 9 No. 6 - Photo Essay |
| The Coffee Trail |
| Coffee comes a long way from the coffee
farms where they are grown to the cup where it settles in a
brew to cap a meal or to simply pass the time away. |
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 1.
Farming
Coffee farming was introduced in the Philippines by Spaniards
in the late 18th century. Over the years, the country has proven
that it can grow world-class coffee. The country once ranked
fourth among the top coffee exporters in the world. |
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 2.
Milling
Due to adverse local conditions and low prices, the coffee
harvest in the country dipped from its peak of 83,700 metric
tons in 1989 to 46,500 metric tons in 2001. Exports declined
from 45,000 metric tons in 1986 to just 180 metric tons in
2001. At the same time, domestic coffee grew from 27,000 metric
tons in 1986 to last year’s 49,2000 metric tons, making
the country a net importer of coffee.
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 3.
Sorting
After undergoing mill processing, coffee beans are sorted: the
large from the small, the perfect from the damaged, the heavy
from the light, the hard from the airy. Most buyers prefer the
bigger and heavier beans and are willing to pay a premium for
every sack. |
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 4.
Cupping
When the polished and sorted beans leave the mills enroute to
the cities and cafés, the next stop is the cupping house,
where tasters or cuppers grade and select coffee samples. |
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 5.
Roasting
Coffee beans are heated to temperatures over 400oF when roasted.
As the moisture escapes the beans, their color gradually changes
from green, to gold, then to brown. Batangueños will
tell you, there’s nothing like drinking home-grown, home-dried,
home-roasted, and home-cooked coffee.
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 6.
Blending
Arabica. Robusta. Liberica. Excelsa. High-grown. Low-grown.
The Philippines grows them all. A “blend” created
by a careful process of mixing varieties often becomes a coffee
shop’s house specialty. |
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