Specialty coffee in the Philippines is bigger than its reputation suggests. Most roasters are small and local, and most never reach past their own neighborhood. This guide is a starting point — a curator's entry into the roasters and beans Cascara is drinking, organized so you can find a coffee you'll like before you buy a bag you won't drink.
The state of Philippine specialty
Philippine specialty has changed faster than the country's reputation for it. Five years ago you could count the SCA-aligned roasters in Metro Manila on two hands. Today there are over a hundred — Makati, Quezon City, Mandaluyong, Cebu, Baguio, Davao — most working both with Philippine origin from Benguet, Sagada, Sultan Kudarat, and Mt. Apo, and with import lots from Colombia, Ethiopia, Panama, Kenya, and Rwanda.
The coffee is real. The public directory of who's roasting what is thin. Cascara is building one: a curator-verified cellar of the roasters we're drinking, with member ratings on every bean.
To try a roaster before you commit to a bag, the monthly Draft lets you choose portions from 20 g or whole bags. No subscription required. It opens for part of each month.
The Process Spectrum
Most coffee menus list flavor notes that mean nothing until you've been drinking specialty for years. Cascara's Process Spectrum is a shortcut. Every bean in the cellar lives at one of four corners:
Bright, floral, tea-like — washed Kenya, washed Ethiopia.
Balanced, chocolatey, familiar — natural Brazil, washed Colombia.
Juicy, fruit-forward, sweet — honey Costa Rica, semi-washed Indonesia.
Funky, fermented, unconventional — co-ferment Colombia, anaerobic Rwanda.
Knowing which corner you live in cuts the search problem from “thousands of beans” to “a few dozen that suit your palate.” The Cascara web app calibrates this in eleven questions.
Where to start
We feature these because they have an active, well-developed lineup in the Cascara cellar — not because they're “best.” Best is a question of fit. These are starting points.
Makati
Third-wave specialty roastery sourcing from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia and the Philippines, with cafes in Makati, Ortigas,…
Cebu City
Cebu City roaster offering traceable Philippine coffee with farm-to-cup transparency, shipping single origins and rare lots…
Paranaque
Makati
Makati cafe and roastery serving specialty single-origin coffee roasted in-house, with branches on Jimenez and San Isidro.
Muntinlupa
Curve Coffee Collaborators is a Philippine specialty roaster focused on award-winning, traceable single-origin and microlot…
Makati
Makati specialty coffee roaster and equipment distributor (La Marzocco, Rocket), with branches across Metro Manila.
Quezon City
Across the country
The directory skews heavy toward Metro Manila — Makati, Quezon City, and Mandaluyong account for roughly half the roasters in the cellar. But specialty coffee is being roasted in Baguio, Cebu City, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Bacolod, El Nido and beyond. Browse the full Cascara directory to find roasters near you.
Recently added to the cellar.
The cellar refreshes every few days as new lots come in.
How to find a coffee you'll like.
Eleven questions, less than a minute. Your Cellar Identity shows how well every bean in the cellar fits you.
Start calibrating →Roast specialty coffee? Get listed.
The Cascara directory is curator-verified. If you roast specialty coffee in the Philippines and want your bean lineup in the cellar, get in touch. Listing is free. What you get is a proper public profile, member ratings, and discovery from people actively looking for the kind of coffee you're roasting.
gil@cascara.cafe →Common questions
Is Philippine specialty coffee good?
Yes — and it's improved sharply in the last five years. Specialty in the Philippines now spans both local origin (Benguet, Sagada, Sultan Kudarat, Mt. Apo) and import lots from Colombia, Ethiopia, Panama, and Kenya. Cup quality varies more than the country's reputation suggests; the way to navigate it is by roaster and process, not by country alone.
How many specialty roasters does Metro Manila have?
Around 70, spread across Makati, Quezon City, Mandaluyong, San Juan and Taguig. Which of them is best depends on what you like to drink, so start from what you want in the cup. The Cascara directory lists every roaster in the cellar, with member ratings on the beans they roast.
Where to find specialty coffee in Baguio, Cebu, or Davao?
Baguio has a small, serious specialty scene built around local highland origin. Cebu City has 5+ active specialty roasters; Davao is anchored by farmer-direct lots from Mt. Apo and Mt. Matutum. The Cascara directory filters by region.
How does Cascara decide which roasters to feature?
We don't rank or score roasters. The directory is curator-verified — every roaster in the cellar gets a public profile with their full bean lineup, regardless of size or marketing budget. Members rate the individual beans; that's the only ranking signal that exists on Cascara.
Find your palate. Find your roaster.
Eleven questions, less than a minute. Free, no commitment. Your kite is yours from the moment you finish.
Start calibrating →