We are a global team connected by a passion for high-quality coffee and a belief in giving producers a fair price for their hard work. Our journey began with a photograph of Philippine coffee being sold in Seattle’s Pike Place Market in 1909. It led us on a mission to bring the Philippine coffee industry back to its former glory, one farm at a time.

We partner with farmers to help them reach the highest potential for their coffee. Our unique approach moves beyond fair trade and organic labels and values integrity and community above all. Our dedication to these principles enables us to connect our consumers with rare and exceptional coffee.

 

Tere Domine, Kalsada Coffee Roaster

 
What is specialty coffee for you?

Specialty coffee to me is more than just the taste of the final cup but about the relationship from the farm to the consumer. We value the community first and foremost and we strive to be the trusted roaster sourcing the best local traceable coffees.

What is your mission/vision?

Kalsada champions Philippine specialty coffee. Our top priority is to support Filipino coffee producers and their dedicated efforts to bring quality coffee to market. We seek to build trust and partnership with local communities. We invest in machinery and equipment to elevate coffee quality, and we pay farmers over $1 per pound more than Fair Trade. We do this by actively listening to communities, in order to meet their needs. Through our work, we hope to encourage future generations of Filipino coffee growers, and to spread the word about Philippine specialty coffee.

Share a few words on you green bean procurement? Selection process, decision criteria, etc.

Right now, we source from communities in Benguet and Mt. Province. We work closely with the farmers and share with them the knowledge and technology of growing and processing coffee. We conduct trainings and seminars and stay in the farms during harvest to facilitate the processing. Selection is primarily based on quality of the beans. We also give quality incentives to coffees that reach an 86+ in the SCAA grading.

Choice of roaster and why? (Is this even relevant to the roast process? and to the consumer?)

Right now we use EDSA BDG’s machine. It’s a Coffee-Tech Engineering Ghibli15. It’s a really nice machine.

Roast philosophy, why roast the beans the way that you do?

Every roaster’s goal is to bring out and enhance the innate qualities of the beans. For us at Kalsada, we try to find the sweet spot in each bean. A balance between sweetness, acidity and body. We want to share with consumers that were used to drinking burnt and bitter coffees that it can taste so much better than that. That Philippine coffee can be as flavorful as coffees from other countries.