BECAUSE of the elevated location of Kalinga and the perfect climate it has in growing coffees, the place had been known to produce one of the best-tasting and best-smelling coffees in the country.
On a recent trip to Kalinga Province made possible by Department of Tourism Kalinga, we were brought to a specific humble coffee processing house owned by the Degay family in Barangay Bagumbayan, Tabuk City.
As the team stepped inside their house, the smell of freshly-roasted coffee beans wafted against our faces as if to lure us inside and watch the process these beans go through before ending up in our cups for breakfast.
Their house was located near the Magallaya Mountain where coffees were primarily harvested from sourced out from coffee farmer neighbors. Camilo Degay also said they have about two to three hectares of coffee plants as well. The Degay family had been processing coffee for eight years now and is being assisted by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for post-harvest needs including packaging and marketing of products.
Magallaya Mountain Specialty Coffee undergoes eight processes from receiving of the beans, sorting, roasting, cooling, grinding, packaging & selling, bulk packaging, and warehousing.
Each batch of beans being roasted is about 10 kilos and goes through about 30 minutes of roasting.
On average, they are able to produce 500 kilos of coffee beans and much more during November and December when the demand is the highest. Camilo said their beans already reach Manila, Baguio, Isabela, Pampanga, Cagayan, and some parts of Mindanao. They have been producing Arabica, Excelsa, and even Musang Coffee.
For those interested to order high-quality coffees of Kalinga, Camilo Degay and Zita Degay can be reached through their Facebook page Kalinga Civet – Musang Coffee. They can also be called through 0995-126-2280.