Seattle’s Best Coffee launches Café Comunidad to support Philippines’ local highland farmers

If there’s one thing that sets the day off to good a start, it’s having a great cup of coffee. Launching their latest offering at the newest branch of Seattle’s Best Coffee in SM Mall of Asia, Philippines’ General Manager Lenard Berba highlights the significance of their new promo. Seattle’s Best has been known around the world for its signature Henry’s Blend that has warmed the palates and hearts of many, but bringing down the coffee experience to a more intimate and personal level, Lenard explains that it is just about time that Seattle’s Best ties in the old with the new, the foreign with the local.

With the launch of Café Comunidad, they open up their stores to support the hard work of local highland farmers. Café Comunidad brings to the table your choice of any hot, cold, and ice blended coffee beverage using the special blended triple sourced beans from Sagada, Benguet, and Matumtum paired with your preference of pastry by adding only Php50 to your drink. Whether it’s for breakfast, a quick lunch, or merienda, sipping your coffee with that little treat or snack can surely fill you up and give you just the boost you need.

Choices for the pastry pairing include the following:

Yema Cacao Cake (Php 90) – a slice of sinfully sweet chocolate goodness with a thick layer of yema topped with yema icing

Ensaymada (Php 75) – your favorite round bread smeared with buttery sugar and grated cheese, the savory intermingling of sweet and salty

Sardines and Feta Pandesal (Php 80) – a long pandesal with a generous filling of local sardines bursting with the explosion of feta cheese

Adobo Pandesal (Php 80) – a Filipino classic stuffed in the center of a round, fluffy pandesal

Corned Beef Pandesal (Php 80) – a delectable breakfast staple cooked to a perfect consistency shoved inside the bread for a balance of flavor with every bite

Seattle’s Best gives you the freedom to enjoy your brew however you like it. Be it a fancy Double Chocolate Mint Javakula, an Almond Mocha Joy or a simple classic Americano, you can have your coffee prepared with a new Filipino flair.

The Café Comunidad blend consists of Sagada, Benguet and Matumtum Arabica beans. The Sagada beans is distinctly bold without being too rough. It is also known to have a floral scent. The Benguet beans, on the other hand, enjoy a fully nourished soil harvested 1,600 meters above sea level. As a result, it is full-bodied and richly flavored. Going the opposite direction, the Matumtum beans are located in Tupi, South Cotabato. An area home to many active volcanoes, coffee enthusiasts say that the profile of the beans is very subtle. These beans have an aromatic dark chocolate flavor that leaves a slight residue on the tongue.

To launch this carefully handpicked brew, Seattle’s Best borrowed latte artist Wency Dalanon to demonstrate the intricacies of creating various designs on your cup of joe. From the rosetta, heart, and tulip, he showed the press the science and art of getting the design to float on the surface. A lot of steamed milk heated to the right temperature and constantly stirred is the trick. That, and a steady hand. When the latte art workshop ensued and each of the media guests tried their luck for the first time in latte art. Guess who emerged as winners? As judged by the SBC panel, it was DrinkManila’s photographer Star Sabroso who managed to artfully trace a “Star” while yours truly came up with a “Rorschach Ink Blot” design.

When life gets tough, keep calm and drink Seattle’s Best Coffee. Cheers!