{"id":372,"date":"2012-10-24T12:49:19","date_gmt":"2012-10-24T12:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=372"},"modified":"2015-03-08T03:49:18","modified_gmt":"2015-03-08T03:49:18","slug":"cup-of-wonder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/cup-of-wonder\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindanao Organic Coffee: A Cup of Wonder"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Introducing Davao City\u2019s organic Arabica coffee, and Sultan Kudarat\u2019s organic Robusta coffee, as offered by The Ritual in Makati City.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>Growing up in southern Mindanao (Kidapawan City, to be exact), I knew of local coffee in a somewhat detached manner \u2013 i.e. I knew of coffee plantations (not too far from all the houses we used to live at, there were coffee plantations, their presence almost often known via the plants\u2019 flowers\u2019 heady scent that waft in the air as the plants bore fruits), but I never got to know what they tasted like (like many localities engulfed by commercialization, Nescafe\u2019s instant granules were \u2013 and still is \u2013 more commonly used). It was, therefore, a surprise when \u2013 years and years later, and in Metro Manila at that \u2013 I came across two types of coffees being sold, with one of their biggest selling points their being from Mindanao.<\/p>\n

Introducing Davao City\u2019s organic Arabica coffee, and Sultan Kudarat\u2019s organic Robusta coffee, as offered by The Ritual in Makati City.<\/p>\n

KAPE, KAPE<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Philippines, by the way, used to be a major, major (sorry for that; though it stresses the point to be made) player in the coffee industry (well over hundreds of years ago); though the Philippines now (sadly) only produces approximately .012% of the world’s coffee supply.<\/p>\n

Yes, there are several coffee species all over the world, but the two main species of coffee cultivated today are Coffea arabica<\/em> (otherwise known as Arabica coffee) and Coffea canephora<\/em> (a.k.a. Robusta coffee).<\/p>\n

The key difference is \u2013 and it should go without saying, actually \u2013 in the taste. Robusta is (as the name suggests) more robust (that is, \u201cmas matapang<\/em>\u201d or \u201cstronger\u201d, using the Filipino\u2019s way of describing coffee) than Arabica, with the \u201ctapang<\/em>\u201d (or strength) attributed to the higher caffeine content and, unfortunately, not aiding in the supposed \u2013 err\u2026 \u2013 \u201cinferior\u201d taste of the beverage. In contrast, Arabica, is not as \u201cmatapang<\/em>\u201d, and contains less caffeine.<\/p>\n

LOCAL ASSETS<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Mindanao varieties do not differ much from these coffees\u2019 general flavors.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, selling for P290 per 250 grams (or P60 per cup that comes with muscovado<\/em> sugar and fresh milk), Davao City\u2019s organic Arabica coffee may be described in one word as \u201cfruity\u201d. The seller\u2019s PR mat provides a longer, yet still summed-up description, as it states that the Arabica beans are \u201csmooth, very aromatic, with hints of cacao\u201d \u2013 true in all counts, so that drinking the beverage in sips, and even sans the use of sugar (muscovado<\/em> is provided for free) and\/or milk, is pleasurable.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, selling for P260 per 300 grams (or P40 per cup, also with muscovado<\/em> sugar and fresh milk), Sultan Kudarat\u2019s organic Robusta coffee is somewhat reminiscent (at least for me) of Batangas Province\u2019s Barako coffee \u2013 except that the latter is still somewhat sweetish, while the former is just\u2026 bitter-y (thus \u201cmatapang<\/em>\u201d). The PR mat states that this is \u201csmoother than your typical Robusta, (making) these highland-grown beans ideal for an unusual espresso (that contains) more caffeine than Arabica coffee\u201d. For me, at least, best when added with fresh milk, which tempers the bitterness, though not at all lessening the \u201ctapang<\/em>\u201d \u2013 but that\u2019s just me\u2026<\/p>\n

That these coffees are, in a word, yummy, and that they are organic should be reasons enough for them to at least be tried (versus the likes of Starbucks, Seattle\u2019s Best, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, et cetera<\/em>). But that by grabbing these delectable coffees, you\u2019d actually be helping local communities in Mindanao should be another come-on. The Arabica is grown at the mountains around Davao City (which claims to be the home of the country\u2019s peak, Mount Apo), with the trees said to be cared for and harvested by indigenous Manobo as part of an effort to protect forest canopy; while the Robusta is grown by Manobo and B\u2019laan tribespeople in Sultan Kudarat\u2019s Daguma range.<\/p>\n

So I say grab yourself a cup \u2013 or two \u2013 of wonder.<\/p>\n

The Ritual is at The Collective, Malugay St., San Antonio Village, Makati City. For more information, call (+63 2) 400 4326; or visit www.ritualshop.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introducing Davao City\u2019s organic Arabica coffee, and Sultan Kudarat\u2019s organic Robusta coffee, as offered by The Ritual in Makati City. That these coffees are, in a word, yummy, and that they are organic should be reasons enough for them to at least be tried. But that by grabbing these delectable coffees, you\u2019d actually be helping local communities in Mindanao should be another come-on. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,16,3],"tags":[199,198,195,196,192,197],"class_list":["post-372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nutrition","category-product-showcase","category-spotlight","tag-cafe","tag-coffee","tag-davao-city-organic-arabica-coffee","tag-sultan-kudarat-organic-robusta-coffee","tag-the-collective","tag-the-ritual"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":900,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions\/900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}