Cordillera Coffee

The Cordillera is the only part of the Philippines high enough to grow arabica well - the mountain provinces sit between a thousand and eighteen hundred metres, with the cool nights and volcanic soil the species wants - and coffee has been farmed here since the Spanish introduced it in the nineteenth century, mostly on smallholdings of a few hundred trees among vegetables and rice. Sagada, Benguet, Kalinga and Ifugao each produce distinct lots, and Kalinga in particular has drawn attention from specialty roasters in the last decade. Most farms are family operations processing by hand, with drying on tarpaulins in the yard, and volumes are small enough that a single good lot sells out. Cafés in Baguio and Sagada serve local beans, cooperatives sell direct, and several farms around La Trinidad and in the Sagada valleys accept visitors during harvest to see picking, pulping and drying.

What you actually see

• The smallholdings - coffee grown among vegetables and rice.
• The hand processing - pulping and drying in farmyards.
• The harvest - picking through the cool months.
• The local cafés - Baguio and Sagada roasting Cordillera lots.

When to go

November to February for harvest and processing; cafés serve it year-round. Farm visits are arranged locally rather than booked online.

Honest expectations

Volumes are small and quality varies enormously between lots and processors. Much coffee sold as Cordillera or Sagada in tourist shops is blended. Buy from cooperatives or named roasters if origin matters.

Nearby

Sagada's caves and Maligcong's terraces are in the same highlands; Baguio and La Trinidad are south.