My induction as a Bahay Brewista has been less than a month up to this point. And I am happy to realize that my coffee consumption can be an avenue to support local businesses and local coffee farmers.

Philippine Coffee

My first conscious venture away from instant coffee was thru drip coffee from a brand called Antidote Brewery. Antidote Brewery was among the many random Instagram ads that appeared on my feed and I was attracted to their beautiful minimalistic branding. My curiosity led me to read their posts and discover that their beans are sourced from local Philippine coffee farms.

Before this, I had an inkling from watching or reading somewhere that indeed we have many different coffee species and farmers. However, at that time, I didn’t think anything of it and thought by default that foreign brands/beans were superior. This was a mistake because as it turns out, not only does our coffee taste great, our climate also allows the cultivation of four types of coffee beans—including the rare Liberica better known as Kapeng Barako.

A great way you can explore the different tastes of these beans is by trying GoBrewPh’s ArKAPElago collection.

Single Origin Coffee – Trace Your Coffee Farm

One of the values of purchasing from reputable local coffee distributors is the ability to trace the beans you purchase directly from the farm where it was cultivated. GoBrewPh does a great job at this by indicating on their packaging the name and location of the farm where their beans are sourced from.

Freshly Roasted Beans

I’ve discovered from articles on coffee brewing and subreddits that coffee beans lose their freshness the longer you keep them in storage. Their suggested solution for this is to sign up for a subscription with your nearby coffee shop or seller, where they can provide you with freshly roasted coffee in regular intervals.

As of this writing, 18 Days Coffee is the only supplier I’ve found who offers “roast-by-demand” coffee beans. Unfortunately, I’m too far away from them so I decided to return to my nearest coffee supplier, Antidote Brewery.

First I determined how many grams of coffee my dad and I consume in three to four weeks, which turned out to be 400 grams (not a coffee addict yet!). Based on this and this article, coffee beans will taste optimal within three to four weeks from roasting but will still taste good up to three months as long as you store it properly. Next, I simply asked Antidote to supply me with their next batch of freshly roasted coffee beans.

Local and Fresh

Here’s my take on brewing at home: I enjoy my coffee, even more, knowing that I’m helping a local farm and local business in my purchase decisions. I consciously choose local versus commercial and foreign brands. Besides quality coffee, boutique brands such as AntidoteBreweryPh and GoBrewPh have great backstories and friendly people behind them, making the coffee experience even better! It’s a win-win! ♡