HOW do you like your coffee? Black?
With cream and sugar? Cold brew or steaming hot? With frothy smileys and a dash of cinnamon?
No matter how you to take it, for many people, coffee is life. It’s that jolt you need in the morning to get you going for work and ready to do battle with
the Metro’s impossible traffic. Or that perfect after-lunch digestif, or merienda with cake for the tête-à-tête with gal pals.
Personally, I take my coffee after lunch (since I rarely have breakfast), with cream and coco sugar. (I can hear the coffee purists’ eyebrows rising a mile high.) But I love it. It works for me. And more important, it gives my brain cells that extra zing to get me writing my pieces for this paper.
And although I’m no coffee connoisseur, I do appreciate many of the single-origin bean roasts—from up north in the Cordilleras (Benguet Heirloom premium Arabica), to the south in Mindanao (Mount Apo). And whenever I want to get a taste and feel of another country’s lifestyle and people, I order a cup of coffee or buy their beans (Flores from Indonesia and Arabica from Vietnam, etc.).
Many experts, such as Dr. Dave D’haeze, a coffee scientist, are of the opinion that the Philippine coffee can rightly take its place among the world’s best beans. The only problem is that we don’t produce that much to sell abroad. With consumption at 180,000 tons a year, we only produce 30,000 to 35,000 tons of coffee beans a year. As such, most of the production is consumed here at home. Of course, the Department of Agriculture has a coffee farm propagation program, which again has had very little impact on the industry. Today’s trees are really a product of the solo hard work of the private sector.
Which is unfortunate. Because back in the day, as very old folks would say, the Philippines was actually the world’s largest exporter of coffee. Local coffee trees, however, became infected with rot that effectively cut their production. And it is only now that coffee farmers are recovering and finding renewed value in planting/selling coffee beans.
In celebration of this most wonderful brew invented by mankind and the beans our country has been blessed with, the Holiday Inn & Suites Makati, in cooperation with the Philippine Coffee Board (PCB) and the International Women’s Coffee Alliance, launched last week the Philippine Coffee Month. This October, the hotel will have a selection of coffee-infused dishes at Flavors Restaurant, specialty coffee concoctions at Citron Cafe, as well as coffee cocktails at Oz Bar. Taking pride in locally produced coffee, the hotel uses premium Arabica from Sultan Kudarat, a full-bodied, high grown dark roast coffee with a balanced acidity and a fuller body.
“Our guests enjoy the coffee we serve in the hotel and we are proud to say that it is 100-percent Philippine grown” says Hotel Manager Andy Belmonte. “We have always served locally sourced coffee and will continue to do so as we do believe in the local industry and we want to do our part in the sustainability of local farmer efforts.”
Flavors restaurant, which prides itself in having one of the best buffet selections in Makati City with a curated selection of Filipino, South East Asian and Western dishes, introduces coffee-infused dishes to the menu and will add coffee grounds to existing dishes to create a whole new flavor. Coffee rubs on steak and chicken roasts will be used to create a deeper flavor for the roast.
Try a coffee vinaigrette for the Grilled Chicken Salad or the Chili and Coffee Mango Zesty Quinoa Salad, which I found curiously interesting, having not tried quinoa before. But the tender rib eye, which had been rubbed with ground coffee, was certainly the highlight of everyone’s lunch meal.
The hotel’s dessert spread features a Mocha Velvet Cake and a Cappuccino Truffle Brulee Cake, which I found perfectly balanced in terms of sweetness.
Citron Cafe adds some zest to your basic brew with a selection of iced coffees: the sweet and minty Mojito Coffee, muddled mint with espresso and syrup, topped with whole milk; the Hanoi-inspired Coconut Coffee, rich coffee with condensed milk and coconut cream; and Lemon Coffee, which is brightened with a refreshing and summery citrusy flavor.
At the end of a tough day, one can also unwind at the Oz Bar with a selection of fun coffee cocktails: Affogato, a single shot of espresso shaken with vodka, kahlua, and crème de cacao and poured over with a single scoop of vanilla ice cream; Bailey’s Affogato, a step up from the regular affogato with a shot of Bailey’s; Barako Millionaire, a shot of espresso blended with Bacardi, Fundador and condensed milk; and Chocolate Martini, a shot of espresso shaken with vodka, kahlua, chocolate syrup and ice.
I personally recommend the chocotini with espresso, which I had struggled to not order for another round, as it was still daytime.
PCB President Chit Juan, one of the stalwarts in spreading the good news in the local coffee industry, tells me she is personally happy that more Filipinos are learning to appreciate our local coffee. Spending Philippine Coffee Month at the Holiday Inn & Suites is the perfect way for coffee fans to celebrate and love our local coffee even more.
Holiday Inn & Suites Makati is on Palm Drive, Ayala Center, Makati City. For inquiries, call 909-0888.