BAGUIO CITY: The Cordillera region’s coffee-drinking culture not only makes the people connect and catch up with each other but also provides a good prospect for the industry.
‘When you invite somebody, you say inta agkapi (let us have coffee). In Bonctoc, it is so pronounced. In the morning, people go to the kamalin (traditional market) carrying their cups and they talk with everybody. That is how they get news then, when there are no newspapers or radios or cell phones,’ Juliet Lucas, director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the Cordillera region, said Wednesday.
Lucas, a native of Bontoc, Mountain Province, shared that communication is effective that way – when people are having discussions while sipping a cup of steaming brewed coffee and relaxing.
She said the comfort provided by drinking coffee while having a chit-chat allows people to have the opportunity to think better, and for elders to talk amicably when settling problems in the community at the Dap-ay, or where elders gather to
discuss issues.
Some literature says Benguet coffee became part of the country’s booming coffee industry in the 1880s and 1890s before the coffee rust, which was caused by a virus, affected plantations in 1899.
‘In our areas, until the instant coffee came, we have been producing our own coffee. We process it the crude way. We even improvise some wood materials for our gadgets in pulping but we usually use the open-fire roasting until the equipment was recently introduced,’ Lucas said.
She said kettle brewing has been a longtime practice of the older generation, which some people continue to adopt due to the different taste and aroma produced when coffee beans are brewed by boiling.
Antonio Domesag, former mayor of the town of Peñarrubia in Abra and a full-blooded Tinguian tribe member, also said that he grew up seeing his grandfather, also a former mayor of the same town, meeting his officials while having coffee.
He later had his property planted with coffee trees for the needed supply.
‘Some community
members often visit the house to seek help about problems in the villages and they talk of solutions while sipping coffee,’ he said.
As a community elder, Domesag said, an invitation for a community member to have coffee at his residence is a way to make that person feel at ease and comfortable.
Nida Organo, municipal agriculture officer of La Trinidad, said out of the 99,000 fruit-bearing coffee trees in the municipality, about half are considered old trees, or about 50 years to 100 years old, which are being rejuvenated to add to the supply.
‘We have a lot of old trees, which were inherited and have sentimental values. That’s why the owners refuse to have them cut. (These are) proofs that coffee beans have been used by older generations,’ she said.
Coffee business
Lucas said because coffee drinking is a social activity, local entrepreneurs have been encouraged to establish shops serving brewed coffee.
She noted that a Google search for ‘coffee shops’ in La Trinidad will show more than 80 locations.
‘
This shows that we now have a lot of coffee shops, which is a sign that the simple coffee-drinking nature of the people in the Cordillera is also giving economic prospects,’ she said.
Lucas said a lot of roasted and ground coffee brands have been introduced by members of the La Trinidad Arabica Coffee Producers Association, which has 795 members from seven of the municipality’s 16 villages.
‘It is good that the industry is vibrant, with everybody so enthusiastic to produce coffee, especially with a lot of coffee shops established in La Trinidad. Aside from Baguio, Atok, and Tublay, there are now more potential outlets. But the problem is that production is not enough,’ she pointed out.
She said various government agencies are collaborating to improve the volume and quality of the region’s coffee beans.
With more establishments requiring coffee beans, farmers also have to adapt and adjust based on the market’s demands, she added.
Source: Philippines News Agency