for the love of coffee

what more perfect way to wake up in the morning than with a cup (or two) of coffee, even better if it is not the instant coffee but kapeng barako.

being certified coffee addicts, we went to cuenca market just for this.

 

we bought both the beans and grounds.

i always love the kapeng barako here, 

much better than the ones sold in batangas city market and even bauan.

the beans are bigger and the roast is perfect.

the husband told me that it also has more oil than the other ones we bought at other markets.

their store smells absolutely wonderful because of this.

kapeng barako or liberica coffee was brought to the philippines during the spanish colonial era.

it was said that during the time, the philippines was the 4th largest coffee supplier in the world, and lipa,

the place where the first coffee tree was planted, flourished, when brazil, the main supplier of coffee in the world and from where the kapeng barako tree cutting came from, was seriously infected by coffee rust that destroyed brazil's crops.

sadly, the coffee production greatly declined and only a few true kapeng barako trees are remaining due to coffee rust that hit the country in the 1800s nearly wiping out almost all kapeng barako trees in the country.

it is also sad to know that the true kapeng barako's number did not recover as it is considered a high-maintenance crop and farmers diverted to planting vegetables instead of continuing to grow them.

luckily,  i have heard that there are certain groups who want to preserve the true kapeng barako and are looking for them in forests here in batangas and lipa.

ironically, we have a coffee tree in our farm which has been neglected.

it was just there when we bought the lot, but a part of our lot was donated  for road construction, so this tree is now located across the street.

i do not know if it is kapeng barako or the other kind, robusta, which is now more common here than the true kapeng barako, but i went ahead and picked some red berries.

i opened them up, collected the seeds, and planted them straight to the ground.

after a few months of waiting, here is what i got.
coffee seedlings ready to be planted beside our farm house.
did i mention that not only do the beans smell lovely but their flowers as well?
my father loves the heavenly scent of its flowers, so i am giving him these two seedlings.