Brewing culture

The Biyaya Sustainable Living Festival held from 14 to 16 March at Parqal was a celebration of Filipino culture, creativity and craftsmanship.

The event used to be known as the Manila Coffee Festival, but having grown beyond coffee to showcase the work of the country’s underrated yet unmatched artisans, it unrolled this year as Biyaya, a word that means “blessing” in Filipino.

Through craft, coffee and clothing, Biyaya champions cultural heritage while promoting sustainability.

At this year’s festival, DAILY TRIBUNE had an exclusive one-on-one interview with Rich Watanabe, festival director and co-founder of Biyaya, and head of Coffee Heritage Project, to ask what the 10 heritage coffee brands are that everyone should know about and why.

“I chose these coffee brands because, to me, they truly represent Philippine coffee. They speak of the land where they were grown and, of course, they are all delicious and exceptional,” Watanabe reveals.

Here are his picks, in no particular order:

1. Leon Coffee by Manu Reyes of Papa Kape — Grown in the Bucari Mountain Range, Iloilo, a protected national park, this coffee is roasted to evoke nostalgia, with Filipino flavors of corn, peanuts, and malt — an easy, everyday brew.

2. Southern Sagada Coffee by Dapliyan — Cultivated in the southern mountains of Sagada, this coffee has a citrusy, nutty profile with hints of chocolate.

3. Saranggani Coffee by Philia of Datal Anggas Coffee — Grown in a coffee forest, this Robusta coffee has a cocoa base with hints of tamarind fruit.

4. Coffee Hunter by Niña Guinto (Kalaw-Katigbak Heirloom Barako) — An award-winning Barako from the coastal plains of Batangas about 60 meters above sea level, it has floral, caramel, honey blossom, and subtle jackfruit and pineapple notes.

5. Maguindanao Coffee by North Star Upi — A silver medalist at the AVPA in 2020, this coffee — grown in Southern Maguindanao’s mountains — has a chocolatey, fruity profile with jackfruit, ripe bananas, and blueberries.

6. Sultan Coffee by Rebecca Gacayan (Sultan Kudarat) — A standout from Sultan Kudarat, known for its smooth, well-balanced flavor, this coffee has a fruity profile with notes of strawberry and pineapple. These fine Robustas are less bitter than what is normal in the Philippines, as to perhaps why it won Medaille Gourmet two years in a row.

7. 7R Coffee by Rey John Basco (SNA, Sultan Kudarat) — It features a fruity profile with notes of pineapple and passion fruit, lending it natural sweetness.

8. Atok Coffee by Tayao Farms — A mix of Typica and Red Bourbon Arabica beans, this coffee is nutty, citrusy, and caramel-like, with a muscovado sugar sweetness.

9. Biyaya ng Kape (Tublay, Benguet) — It’s a light-bodied coffee with the classic Benguet flavor of dark chocolate, peanuts, and orange-like acidity.

10. Northern Sagada Coffee by Andrew and Mary Tomeg, and Felipa Villicana — Grown at 2,000 meters above sea level in Bangaan, Northern Sagada, this heirloom Typica coffee has been cultivated for over three generations. It won Bronze at AVPA Paris in 2019 and Silver in the Acidulate Floral category in 2024.

From the mountains of the Cordilleras to the farmlands of Mindanao, these coffees tell the story of our land and the hands that nurture them — one sip at a time.