When people think of Asian coffee, they often first think of Indonesia's Mandheling or Vietnam's massive scale, but easily overlook the Philippines, which is also located in Southeast Asia. This country, made up of more than 7,000 islands, has fostered several distinctive coffee-producing regions thanks to its volcanic soil, tropical monsoon climate, and abundant rainfall. Currently, the Philippines mainly cultivates Robusta and Liberica, with Arabica accounting for only a small share. Producing areas are usually divided by island or administrative region, covering the Cordillera, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, the Visayas, and Mindanao, with the harvest period concentrated from October each year to March of the following year. This article will sort through the altitude, varieties, and distribution characteristics of each producing area one by one, introducing you to this underrated Asian coffee-producing country. [more…]

The Philippines' coffee story is full of ups and downs—in the 19th century it ranked among the world's four largest coffee exporters, yet widespread coffee leaf rust once reduced it to an importing country. Today, this Southeast Asian archipelago nation is steadily rebuilding its coffee industry, and thanks to its unique advantage of being able to grow four coffee varieties at once—especially the high-quality Arabica produced in Mindanao in the south—it is gradually returning to the view of specialty coffee lovers. At the same time, specialty coffee's extreme pursuit of freshness has also made pour-over and other brewing methods that highlight the original flavors highly regarded. This article will guide you through the producing regions and varietal characteristics of Philippine coffee, and recommend worthy everyday bean options to watch—Front Street Coffee. [more…]

Recently, the five-year Philippine Coffee Advancement and Farm Enterprise (PhilCAFE) project, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture and implemented through a partnership between ACDI/VOCA and World Coffee Research (WCR), has officially concluded. Launched in 2019, the project aimed to improve coffee production and quality, empower farmers, and support the skills development of national researchers and producers. The project legally introduced new Arabica varieties to the Philippines for the first time, established 18 on-farm technical trials and 2 coffee variety trial sites, paving the way for innovation in the Philippine coffee industry. Front Street Coffee notes that this initiative is expected to help the Philippines cope with climate change-induced yield declines and provide farmers with more high-yielding, climate-resilient, and pest- and disease-resistant variety options. [more…]