Editorial · Curator's entry points
Cascara guides.
Long-form pieces written by Cascara — starting points into specialty coffee, organized by palate rather than hype. New guides ship as the cellar grows.
Start here
May 2026
The coffee palate quiz
A free coffee palate quiz. Eleven questions, one Cellar Identity, and a shortcut to coffee that fits your taste.
July 2026
Specialty vs commercial coffee
The line between them isn't marketing — it's the 80-point score. How specialty and commercial coffee differ from farm to cup, and how to tell which one you're buying.
July 2026
Is specialty coffee worth it?
An honest, how-you-drink answer — what you're actually paying for, when it's worth it and when it isn't, and the per-cup math that reframes the price.
July 2026
What specialty coffee costs in the Philippines
How much a bag of specialty coffee really costs in the Philippines and why — import costs, small-batch roasting, local vs imported, and the per-cup math.
July 2026
How to read a coffee bag label
Roast date, origin, variety, process, altitude, tasting notes — what each line on a specialty bag means, and the order to read them in.
May 2026
How to read coffee tasting notes
Tasting notes on a coffee bag aren't marketing fluff — they're a structured language. A field guide to reading them.
May 2026
Specialty coffee subscription in the Philippines
How the Cascara Subscription works — one matched bag, every month, delivered. Calibrate first so your first bag lands matched.
July 2026
Specialty coffee gifts in Manila
A bag of specialty coffee is a good gift and a risky one. How to give coffee that fits someone's palate instead of guessing at it — what to check, and the gift that adapts.
By city
May 2026
Specialty coffee in the Philippines
A curator's starting point into Philippine specialty coffee. 140+ roasters across Metro Manila, Baguio, Cebu, Davao and beyond — organized by palate, not hype.
May 2026
Specialty coffee in Manila
A curator's starting point into Metro Manila specialty coffee — Makati, BGC, Quezon City, Mandaluyong, San Juan. Organized by palate, not hype.
July 2026
Specialty coffee in Makati
Where Philippine third-wave started — Legazpi and Salcedo Villages, Poblacion, and the country's longest-running roasters. The Makati scene, organized by palate.
May 2026
Specialty coffee in BGC
A curator's starting point into the Bonifacio Global City specialty corridor — High Street, Uptown, McKinley, Burgos. The roasters and cafes Cascara is drinking.
July 2026
Specialty coffee in Baguio
The Cordillera coffee city — where you can drink a cup a short drive from where the beans are grown. The Baguio and Benguet roasters, organized by palate.
July 2026
Specialty coffee in Cebu
The Visayas' fastest-growing third-wave scene — IT Park, Banilad, Mactan. The Cebu roasters Cascara is drinking, organized by palate, not hype.
July 2026
Specialty coffee in Davao
A drinking city beside a growing one — Mount Apo Arabica and the Davao roasters. Mindanao's coffee heart, organized by palate.
The Philippine scene
July 2026
What Filipino coffee drinkers are drinking
325 logged brews from 56 members across 75 roasters. The varieties and processes Filipino drinkers actually brew — and how often the tasting notes on the bag hold up in the cup.
June 2026
The State of Philippine Specialty Coffee 2026
A data report from the Cascara catalog — 200 roasters, 1,598 beans, 36 origins. Natural process has overtaken washed, one bean in five is fermented, and 11% of the market is Philippine-grown.
July 2026
The Philippine coffee harvest calendar
When is Philippine coffee harvested? A region-by-region reference — Cordillera Arabica, Batangas Barako, Mindanao — and how altitude and species move the season across the dry months.
July 2026
Barako coffee, explained
The bold, smoky heritage Liberica of Batangas — and the rare third coffee species now prized worldwide for its climate resilience. What it is, how it tastes, and why the coffee world is paying attention again.
July 2026
WOFEX 2026 — Lance Hedrick confirmed, coffee at the World Food Expo
July 29-Aug 1 at WTC and SMX, Pasay. Lance Hedrick joins H Proper for the full run. The coffee at the Philippines' biggest food expo — who's confirmed, the Coffee Series, and the roasters to seek out.
May 2026
Philippine Coffee Expo 2026
June 5-7 at One Ayala, Makati. Dates, venue, and the Philippine specialty roasters worth seeking out on the floor.
June 2026
Gloria Lagawan tops the PCE 2026 auction
₱4,900 a kilo for a washed Bukidnon lot — the top price at the 2026 Philippine Coffee Expo green-coffee auction, and what the PCQC result means.
May 2026
Manila Coffee Festival 2026
July 17-19. The other major Manila coffee event of the year — what to expect and the Philippine roasters worth tasting.
July 2026
The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops 2026
Yardstick at No. 34 is the Philippines' only entry this year — down from four in 2025. What the list measures, and what a global ranking can't tell you about the cup that fits you.
Origins
June 2026
Philippine coffee, explained
The only origin that grows all four commercial species. A field guide to the Cordillera and Mindanao highlands, Barako, and what Philippine-grown specialty coffee actually tastes like.
May 2026
Ethiopian coffee, explained
Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, Guji, Limu, Harrar — what each region tastes like, what 'heirloom variety' means, and why Ethiopia anchors specialty coffee.
July 2026
Kenyan coffee, explained
The loudest cup in coffee. What SL28 and SL34 are, what 'AA' really means, the double-washed process, and why Kenya tastes of blackcurrant and wine.
July 2026
Colombian coffee, explained
The balanced benchmark. The regions, Castillo and Caturra, the FNC, and why two harvests keep Colombian coffee fresh almost all year round.
July 2026
Yemeni coffee, explained
Where coffee began. The port of Mokha, heirloom landraces, the highest farms in coffee, and a wild dried-fruit cup found nowhere else.
July 2026
Panama Geisha, explained
The Ethiopian variety that made Panama famous and broke every green-coffee price record. What Geisha tastes like, washed vs natural, why Boquete, and why it costs what it does.
Process & taste
May 2026
Coffee processing methods, explained
Washed, natural, honey, anaerobic — what each one does to the cup, and why processing matters more than origin.
July 2026
What natural-process coffee tastes like
If washed coffee tastes like the bean, natural tastes like the fruit. How the dry process makes coffee taste of blueberry, and natural vs washed.
July 2026
Co-fermented and anaerobic coffee, explained
The fastest-moving corner of specialty coffee. What anaerobic and co-fermentation do to the cup, why a lot tastes like strawberry candy or whiskey, and how to buy one without getting burned.
May 2026
Coffee roasting, explained
Light, medium, dark, development time, and why roast date is the single most important number on a specialty bag.
July 2026
Light roast vs dark roast
What roast level actually changes in the cup, how light and dark really taste, the caffeine myth, and how to pick the roast that fits the way you drink your coffee.
July 2026
Coffee acidity, explained
The most misunderstood word in specialty coffee. Why bright isn't sour, where acidity comes from, and how to brew for more of it — or less.
July 2026
The coffee flavor wheel, explained
The map behind every tasting note. What the SCA wheel is, the nine flavor families at its center, and the inside-out method most people get wrong.
July 2026
Yuzu, bergamot and citrus in coffee
Yuzu is turning up on coffee bags everywhere. What citrus tasting notes mean, whether there's really yuzu in the cup, and how to taste the bright end of specialty coffee on purpose.
July 2026
Espresso vs filter
Same beans, two drinks. Concentration vs clarity, the 'stronger' caffeine myth, and which brew actually shows a coffee's character.
July 2026
How to store coffee beans
The four enemies of coffee, where to keep beans (and why not the fridge), the truth about freezing, and how long coffee actually keeps after roasting.
Roaster profiles
July 2026
Big Sur Coffee — Shanghai's Geisha specialist
A Shanghai roaster that buys like a competition team: ultralight single-estate filter — Panama Geisha from Elida and Esmeralda, Testi Ethiopia, full-traceability Kenya.
July 2026
XLIII Coffee — Vietnam's precision roaster
Formerly 43 Factory. A Da Nang operation built on auction lots, Ninety Plus Criolic Geshas, and a rare Malaysian Liberica — roasted extremely light on a Giesen W6A.