Highlights
- For Rodney Reyes, coffee is more than a crop. It's a movement.
- The third wave sees coffee as an artisanal product, whose origins and processes should be studied and appreciated.
- All regions in the Philippines produce coffee.
SBS Filipino's 'Kape Serye' is a collection of features celebrating Filipino-owned cafés; Filipino baristas, producers, distributors and coffee aficionados; and of course, the Philippine-grown coffee bean.
"I'm quite experimental when it comes to my coffee. This is very Filipino - the latest thing I've been doing is adding coconut jam to my drink."
In as much as barista-turned-advocate Rodney Reyes searches for the next new ingredient to add to his drink, he's seeking to promote an alternative viewpoint when it comes to the crop.
Rodney Reyes [R] and his wife, Grace Source: Rodney Reyes
Coffee and garlic rice
Rodney had his first taste of coffee when he was still a child, introduced to him by his grandmother.
"I called my grandmother 'nanay' [mother]. She had raised me while my parents were in Australia. We left the Philippines together for Sydney when I was three.
"At breakfast, I would have garlic rice and she would dip it in black coffee and feed it to me. The taste reminds me of her and it's part of why I love coffee."
Loving coffee seems to be a characteristic of their lineage, with Rodney admitting that all members of his family love coffee so "someone was bound to do something about this passion."
Rodney's grandmother Source: Rodney Reyes
That someone was Rodney, who gave up pursuing IT and electrical engineering in order to work as a barista in a café.
"I would observe the other baristas, the rituals they had. I took to working with coffee pretty quickly. I made it my thing and I excelled in it. From there I discovered my passion. I changed careers several times. I was good at those as well, but my love for coffee was stronger."
The strength of this love pushed him to look deeper into coffee.
"I would observe the other baristas, the rituals they had. I took to working with coffee pretty quickly." Source: Michael Burrows from Pexels
"There was a point that I attempted to leave my job as a barista for a commercial café in order to go into specialty coffee; but the shift made me realise I really didn't know a lot about coffee. There was more to learn."
Third wave
Learning more about coffee led him to discover the third wave.
The first wave of coffee is just about looking at the crop as a commodity; while the second wave dealt more with coffee as an experience.
"The third wave, on the other hand, is more than that. You look at the source to the cup and, everything in between. You look at the farmers, the crop, the factors that affect the product, the processes, the cafés. It's about understanding what happens from the beginning."
"You look at the source to the cup and, everything in between." Source: Monstera from Pexels
For Rodney, beginning meant going back to where he came from.
Top crop
"I've been wanting to see what coffee is like in the Philippines. Did you know that in the late 1900s, the Philippines was one of the largest coffee producers in the world? I wondered what had happened after that. That's when I started digging into it a bit more."
Wanting to dig into it a bit more, Rodney and his wife Grace went back to the Philippines to check out the local coffee scene.
"I always wanted to try Barako coffee. I wasn't expecting that much flavour or sweetness, but when I tried it, it was amazing.
Every region in the Philippines grows coffee. Source: Carlo aguada from Pexels
"Travelling to the Philippines fueled my desire to advocate for it. It furthered my desire to create our group, Alternative Coffee Beans.
"Rocelle Tulloch is the co-founder of our community. We go to a lot of coffee events and realised that we lack a Filipino community around community. We wanted to create that - a community; but our group evolved into something else bigger."
Founders, Rocelle Tulloch and Rodney Reyes Source: Supplied
From a community, Alternative Coffee Beans became an advocacy, a movement of sorts that seeks to promote alternative sources of coffee and to support people working in the industry.
"We want to advocate for farmers and their crops. We want to make sure things are done right within the community.
Alternative Coffee Beans became a movement that seeks to promote alternative sources of coffee and to support people working in the industry. Source: Supplied
"We want to highlight the support needed by different coffee communities as well as the problems they face. Do you know that all regions in the Philippines grow coffee. Facts like these need to be highlighted; but sadly, they're not because a lot farmers are forced to turn to more lucrative crops because they lack support."
The lack of support and recognition means the world is also missing out on what the Philippines has to offer when it comes to its beans.
"We had a coffee tasting event last year to sample Philippine beans. The feedback was positive - our coffee has subtle hints of jackfruit, mango, berries, cocoa, citrus fruit and nut. For the people who attended, they mistook the coffee as coming from Africa or Central America becase of the flavour profile.
"Sadly, low production is depriving the world of these beans."
"We had a coffee tasting event last year to sample Philippine beans. The feedback was positive - our coffee had hints of jackfruit, mango, berries, cocoa..." Source: Supplied
Bettering the culture, saving the bean
Aside from lack of support, low production and low quality are directly related to climate change.
"As the climate warms, it affects the altitudes at which quality Arabica coffee can grow. This results in shorter maturation period for the coffee cherries; therefore, they aren't able to develop fine flavours and sweetness. The result is bland coffee beans.
"Climate change also affects weather patterns, making it difficult for consistent quality year after year. That's why we are looking at coffee species alternatives that are more resilient to climate change such as Liberica (which is Barako coffee), Excelsa and Robusta."
While , coffee is one of the crops that will potentially face annhilation should efforts fail.
"We are looking at coffee species alternatives that are more resilient to climate change such as Liberica (which is Barako coffee), Excelsa and Robusta." Source: Daniel Reche from Pexels
"One of the coffee advocate groups based in Bengeut, Philippines sent in an application for funding to build a more climate-resilient coffee facility, but they were rejected. They had to try and save on their own. While they were able to, they did it with great difficulty. The good news is they'll be able to finish the project before harvest season this year.
"Earlier this year as well, Brazil was hit with severe frost due to climate change. Brazil is the largest coffee producer in the world and their crops were wiped out by frost! It will take them three years to rebuild, replant and harvest; so for the next three years, expect coffee to be more expensive.
"We need to better coffee culture, meaning, we give support to the farmers, producers and even cafe owners and; we give recognition to the role each player has in the chain. No one gets left behind and no one is overlooked. Everyone is motivated to protect the crop, to improve coffee quality and to explore innovative solutions.
"We need to better coffee culture, meaning, we give support to the farmers, producers and even cafe owners..." Source: Kalsada Coffee
"Ultimately, our goal is to create meaningful, deeper communication in order to create change."
