 About Coffee
Coffee has two main varieties or species, Coffea arabica and
Coffea canephora or more popularly known as Robusta. Arabica (Coffea
arabica) was originally cultivated in the Arabian Peninsula, hence
its name. While Robusta (Coffea canephora) is grown in many regions
where Arabica would not grow but Robusta has less flavor and
contains more caffeine than the Arabica. However, Robusta contains
more antioxidants than Arabica coffee. Today, coffee is the second
largest traded commodity in the world, second only to oil and the
largest exporter of coffee is Brazil. Most espressos blends use good
quality Robusta beans because it produces more foamy heads and are
cheaper than Arabica coffee beans. Aside from two main varieties of
coffee (Arabica and Robusta), there are lesser grown and exotic
varieties of coffee e.g. Liberica (where the Philippine Barako comes
from) and Exelsa.
A specie of coffee grown on one region will have distinct
characteristics from the same specie grown on another region. This
is due to the the climate, soil and the processing of the beans.
Coffee characteristics is defined by it's flavour (e.g. citrus-like,
earthy), body, acidity and caffeine content. As a rule, the higher
the altitude the coffee is grown, the higher the quality.
Health Benefits of Drinking Coffee
There are many conflicting and inconclusive studies on the health
benefits of drinking coffee. Initial studies are encouraging and
show that drinking coffee indeed have some health benefits. Here are
the result of some recent research findings:
Type 2 Diabetes - Of all the studies conducted on the benefits of
coffee, the most consistent is the lowered risk of acquiring type 2
diabetes or “adult-onset” diabetes among coffee drinkers. Studies
show that the more coffee is consumed the lower the risk. Men who
drank 6 cups or more a day cut their diabetes risk in half while
women who drank the same amount of coffee, cut their risk to 30%. It
seems men benefit more than women.
Antioxidant - coffee is a good source of antioxidants. Green coffee
beans contains about 1,000 antioxidants and is increased during
brewing. The roasting process also creates it own set of compounds
that are beneficial to health and are unique only to coffee. Coffee
contains more antioxidants than cocoa, red wine and 4 times more
than green tea. Initial findings show that even 1 to 2 cups of
coffee a day has beneficial effects and it seems both caffeinated
and decaffeinated coffee increases the body's antioxidant levels.
Parkinson’s Disease - independent studies have shown that drinking
coffee daily reduces the risk of Parkinson’s Disease by as much as
80%. It also appears that the more the consumption, the lower the
risk. Aside from reducing the risk of Parkinson’s disease, coffee
has positive functional effect on daily activities like
concentration, alertness, body endurance and increased male
fertility. This is attributed to caffeine's effect on brain
receptors which enhances energy uptake.
There are also recent studies that show that drinking coffee does
not raise the risk of heart disease - the old belief now seem to be
untrue. Research continues on the benefits of coffee, other benefits
include: reduction of asthma attacks, cuts the risk of liver
cirrhosis, reduces the risk of colon cancer, reduces headaches,
prevents tooth cavities and even offsets the damage of heavy alcohol
intake and smoking.
Philippine Coffee & Barako Coffee History
Coffee was brought in the Philippines centuries ago by the Spaniards
while the country was a colony. They planted coffee trees on the
highlands. And because of good combination of humidity, cold, soil
and the tropical climate, these plantation flourished. By the 19th
century, the Philippines was the 4th largest coffee producing
country in the world.
Barako coffee is the Philippine term for coffee produced in
Batangas. This Philippine coffee is of the Liberica variety.
Liberica is rare and exotic, grown only in 3 countries out of about
70 coffee producing countries in the world. The first Barako tree
was a a cutting from Brazil planted in the 1800s in Barangay
Pinagtung-Ulan, Batangas by the Macasaet family. Barako coffee has
strong taste, flavor, and has a distinctively pungent aroma. All
coffee grown in Batangas is generically called Barako.
During this golden times of coffee production in the Philippines,
the town of Lipa in Batangas flourished and many plantation owners
became millionaires. In 1887, Spain's Queen Isabella elevated the
town of Lipa into a city named it Villa de Lipa owing to its
prosperity. Lipa became one of the richest cities in the Philippines
during the coffee boom.
Today, there are only a handful of Barako trees and is in the brink
of extinction. The title "coffee capital" of the Philippines has
also shifted from Batangas to the town of Amadeo in Cavite province.
The decline of coffee industry in the Philippines stated when crops
were plagued by "Coffee Rust" an infestation the almost wiped out
the Philippine coffee industry. And South American countries took
over to satisfy the world demand for coffee. In recent years, this
was aggravated by the flooding of Vietnam with cheap coffee which
made the world prices collapse even further. Even today, world
prices of coffee is a fraction of the prices during the boom years.
The recent world wide popularity of special brews and exotic blends
of coffee gives a sliver of hope to the Philippine coffee industry.
This new trend might be the breath of life that the Philippine
coffee industry needs to savour once again the taste of Barako
coffee's golden years.
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