Philippines

Philippine coffee spans four species: Barako liberica in Batangas and Cavite, highland arabica in the Cordillera, and robusta as the bulk crop.

The Philippines is a botanically distinctive coffee origin, producing four commercially viable species: arabica, robusta, liberica and excelsa. Robusta makes up the large majority of output (about 90%, per Wikipedia). Arabica is grown in highland areas such as the Cordillera (about 1,000-1,800 m) and parts of Mindanao. Liberica, known as Barako, is closely associated with Batangas and Cavite provinces south of Manila. The name derives from the Spanish verraco (wild boar). Coffee was introduced by Franciscan friars in Lipa, Batangas in the 1700s (sources give 1730 or 1740), and Lipa was later labeled the coffee capital of the Philippines. By 1880 the Philippines was the fourth-largest coffee exporter, and coffee rust, which arrived in 1889, virtually destroyed the trees in Batangas and cut national production to about a sixth. Mindanao now leads local production of dried beans, with Sultan Kudarat a leading province there.

History

Coffee was introduced to the Philippines by Franciscan friars, with the first tree planted in Lipa, Batangas in the 1700s (sources give 1730 or 1740). Barako reached Cavite in 1876, and exports to San Francisco and Europe commanded premium prices from the 1860s. By 1880 the Philippines was the fourth-largest coffee exporter, and for 1887 to 1889 it was reportedly the only source of coffee in the world while rust struck competing regions. Rust reached the Philippines in 1889 and virtually destroyed the trees in Batangas, cutting production to about a sixth. Barako is now considered endangered and is listed in the Slow Food Ark of Taste.