A Different Brew: Jack Meets Kaldi Specialty Coffee

This afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised that there exists a community of coffee connoisseurs, professional baristas, coffee shop owners, coffee farmers and people who passionately care about the industry in the Philippines. Jack Meets Kaldi Specialty Coffee just opened up shop at the WNC Building along Jose Abad Santos Street Little Baguio in San Juan City. Their grand opening called for a “Throwdown” of the best baristas in the country, coming far and wide just to celebrate what they serve in this shop, their specialty coffee.

It’s different from the usual, as they strictly enforce the highest coffee standards using beans from different regions in the Philippines. Unbeknownst to many, we’ve got some of the best in the world; and I think that exactly runs this movement. I was a bit uneasy when they individually talked about their story, it reminded a bit how little I know about it, I was just observing them. Seeing how they cared and intricately prepare each cup for competition was inspiring.

Jack Meets Kaldi Specialty Coffee sits around 40 people (mostly bar stools and a couple couches in front). The structure is depicted with industrial pieces in the bar, concrete floors, twigs adorn the recessed lights, mixed in with steampunk elements especially with the modern machines they have for the store. 

They take Latte Art quite seriously, because your specialty coffee experience cannot be compromised.

They also serve cakes and pastries for those who have a sweet tooth, they serve mean cheesecakes.

We ordered Iced Latte, which I absolutely loved. They also have Atok Kape Cold Drip Coffee which I would recommend to experience inside the store. They didn't forget milk tea and craft beer lovers, order when you can!

The third of the space is dedicated to PHILAC (Philippine Latte Art Academy) which teaches competing baristas we send off to international competitions to represent the country. The center also functions as a laboratory for specialty coffee workshops so people can enroll in modules like intro courses, Brewing/Extraction classes, Pressure and Flow Profiling, Advanced Latte Art and Sensory Skills Assessment with the goal to raise the barista profession in the Philippines.

Over at the competition, invited baristas were also joined by walk-in contestants to compete for the nice prizes that Jack Meets Kaldi Specialty Coffee prepared for them. Before they started, they took a few minutes to remember a brew brother who passed away, they have also dedicated the Jack Meets Kaldi Specialty Coffee Showdown for him, that was touching.

To serve as judges, they introduced JR Celdran, Desmond Chua and CJ Torres. The contestants were simply tasked to do a latte art in an 8oz cup via designs like tulips, Seahorse, Phoenix, Pegasus (oh yeah they did one!) etc. Serve it and do the task in front of the judges, then they decide who progresses to the next round by the quality of their art. I thought it was going to take a long time, but they took minutes to have it on the table. Live judging was fast not easy, they had to resort repeating some of the cups because of clarity of design and cleanliness.

The third round had the contestants partner up with lady baristas holding their cup. Partnering skills are difficult, it showed how much experienced baristas had an advantage.

The 4th Round had Oliver Miclat, Mark Lingat and Paul Mishima battle it out for the crown. 

Marc Lingat went ahead of the pack with his Hornbill on an Atis Tree entry. The Unicorn and Squirrel wasn't bad at all. They had to do sudden death to see who will fight Lingat in the finals.

Between the Bunny Rabbit and the Seahorse, two of the judges chose the sea worthy entry of Paul Mishima.

A fun round of shots and brew before the finals was done with two contestants randomly chosen from the list. The guy actually did better winning this time.

Then the finals had the two baristas make their grand masterpiece, look at these lovely entries! Their first cup was a "pour" and the second one had "etching", judges had a hard time choosing who will win. In the end, they declared Paul Mishima as the Grand Champion. Second Runner up goes to Oliver, First Runner Up goes to Mark.

Congratulations Paul Mishima who hails from Tagaytay City for winning the first Jack Meets Kaldi Specialty Coffee Throwdown! 

That's our live blog for today! For those who would like to visit this place, simply input Jack Meets Kaldi on Grab or Google Maps and it will take you there. Visit them at 15 Jose Abad Santos Street in Little Baguio San Juan City. It's very near Wilson Street so you wouldn't miss it!

How to Become A Good Barista

I've been loving Costa Coffee since they got their London-ish kind of brew here in the Philippines - and by far, my most favorite item on their menu is the Flat White. This doesn't come easy because aside from assuring the ingredients are at par with the world's best, it takes proper skill to whip up an ingenious cup of coffee. It takes years too to get to that level and perhaps sheer talent and I'm glad I've seen that first hand in their branches.

They also are holding competitions for their own baristas called Barista of the Year (BOY) which I covered too in the past and recently, our very own country representative Justin Dela Fuente bested countries from Southeast Asia and India. That says a lot about the quality that we're getting in Costa Coffee Philippines and he also shared a couple of things about how to get that perfect cup!

He's a skilled barista so he deems a couple of things to be the criteria one should have in order to achieve great coffee. 

PATIENCE - It takes time to be an expert. It takes tons of spilled coffee, burns in the machine and cups for willing test subjects if you want to concoct the perfect cup! All you need to do is practice and don't be disheartened if you fail at times, because we all have to begin somewhere right? 

STAY HUNGRY FOR KNOWLEDGE - Make sure you are always thirsty for knowledge. Learn from your mistakes, know the best practices from experts and apply it to your craft. Anything could be a learning opportunity. 

OVERFLOW WITH PASSION - There's nothing more miserable than a half hearted attempt on anything. Take that passion to heights and conquer your fears. Though I must say, always know when to edit. That is the key.

STAY FUN - A cup would be pleasing enough but make sure you still make it fancy. We all have that dream of the perfect cup and a little art never hurt anyone right? Take tons of unfamilliar flavors, introduce it to people and make it fun. There are ways to experiment and it doesn't have to be boring. Right?

SERVE YOUR BEST - Keeping the quality of your coffee and properly doing the process is the key. Make sure it's also the best cup you can make because people use hard earned money to purchase it. It's going to be a reason they'd come back. A good thing to do especially if you're building relationships and not just rapport. Who wouldn't want their perfect cup?

Those are just some of the nice things Justin shared about his goal of getting the championship this January in London. Make sure you support him by posting your Costa Coffee drinks online and use the hashtag #JustinForTheWin as he makes the country proud as he vies for Costa Coffee's Barista of the Year!

I'm posting one now! :) 

KUMAGCOW

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