US-based coffee brand Blue Bottle is now offering Filipino coffee
Our country's rich espresso is finally taking center stage, as Blue Bottle is now offering Philippine-origin coffee in their international stores for the first time.
The US-based specialty coffee roaster announced on Mar. 1 that they have teamed up with Filipino specialty coffee brand Kalsada to offer two single-origin coffees as part of their "Horizon Series." Both brews come from Sitio San Roque in Pigtauranan, Bukidnon.
The first is Typica Sweet coffee, which is described to have notes of caramel, blackberry jam, and clove. The other is Anaerobic Natural coffee, which has flavors of plum, fresh spices, and nougat.
"The Philippines’ newest wave of coffee exploration is shaping the nation into a hub for experimentation. Farmers and producers from the region are finding inspiration in their country’s long history with coffee to reinvigorate the craft. Now, microlots like these two from Sitio San Roque are returning the Philippines to coffee exceptionalism," Blue Coffee wrote.
Kalsada Coffee meanwhile revealed that they had been trying to send their green bean samples to the US coffee brand for five years since 2018 but had been continuously rejected.
"After repeated evaluations, rejections, and encouragement from their graders to keep improving, our coffee finally met their standards in 2022," Kalsada highlighted.
"Elevating Philippine specialty coffee by partnering closely with producers has been the center of our work these last nine years. It’s been largely difficult, but every so often, we‘re reminded why we do what we do and why we need to keep going," they added.
The other sets in Blue Bottle's "Horizon Series" come from Vietnam, Myanmar, and Thailand. The foreign coffee roaster has cafés situated in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and Japan.