ON their visits to Cebu, Pepin Ordoña and his wife realized that they never knew where to go to eat for breakfast and have a cup of good specialty coffee. Being a chef and a coffee roaster, Ordoña and his wife thought it would be a good idea to bridge this gap. In February 2015, they opened Yolk Coffee and Breakfast.
Last Oct. 15, Yolk Coffee and Breakfast, a small and cozy café located along Tres Borces St., Cebu City concluded its fourth coffee cupping together with guest roaster Thomas Sproten, co-founder of Coffee Culture Roastery in Bacolod City. Coffee cupping is about assessing the aroma and taste of different coffee selections. Around 20 coffee lovers gathered to experience this unique coffee event, held twice a year, known as coffee cupping.
The cupping began with Sproten teaching the participants the art of cupping. On the cupping table were 13 kinds of coffee imported by Bero Coffee Singapore and Magellan Coffee Company from different countries around the world. Various Arabica coffee beans sourced from different countries in Latin America, Africa, Hawaii, and Indonesia were featured at the tasting.
First, the smell of the ground coffee beans was drawn. Next, the coffee was brewed and tasted. And last, it was then evaluated in terms of flavor, aftertaste, acidity, and mouth feel. Each of the participants eagerly took turns going around the cupping table observing the different kinds of coffee.
Sproten explained that every coffee is made uniquely. Many factors affect its taste and that the ability to describe coffee notes is a good way to promote coffee from different places grown in different conditions.
“Whenever there is an opportunity to cup, when you see on Facebook or any social media coffee shops offering cuppings, join. That’s the only way to really improve your palette and how you get confidence and how you understand different coffees,” he said.
Yolk plans to continue this event in order to introduce various kinds of coffee to Cebuanos. Filipinos are only still beginning to enter into the third wave coffee industry. Coffee cupping events like this are meant to promote coffee as an art as well as showcase the different flavor variations from other places.
To the young coffee enthusiasts, Ordoña advised, “Try out new things. Talk to your barista. Explore and experiment with different kinds of beans.” (Kathleen Marie Dy, Grade 12, Sacred Heart School - Hijas de Jesus)