Kapeng Barako

Barako is coffea liberica, one of the four commercially grown coffee species and by far the least common - it accounts for a fraction of a percent of world production, and Batangas and Cavite are among the very few places that grow it at any scale. The beans are large, the aroma is heavy and woody, and the cup is strong and slightly bitter with a distinctive body that people either take to immediately or never do. Batangas was a major coffee exporter in the nineteenth century, at one point supplying a significant share of the world market, until coffee rust destroyed the plantations in the 1890s; the industry never fully recovered, and barako has been listed as at risk of extinction by Slow Food. Recent interest from specialty roasters has helped, and farms around Lipa and Amadeo now sell direct and accept visitors. It is traditionally drunk black and sweet, brewed in a cloth sock strainer.

Highlights

• The large beans - liberica's distinctive oversized seed.
• The sock brewing - the cloth strainer used traditionally.
• The farms - smallholdings around Lipa and Amadeo.
• The strong black cup - drunk sweet, without milk.

When to go

Year-round for the coffee; November to February is harvest, when farm visits show picking and processing. The Tagaytay and Batangas ridge cafés serve it all year.

Practical notes

It is a strong, woody coffee that divides people - do not expect a specialty arabica profile. Much of what is sold as barako in Manila is blended or not liberica at all. Buy from farms or named roasters if provenance matters.

Nearby

Tagaytay's ridge is above the Cavite farms; Lipa and Taal are in Batangas.