The coffee revolution has reached the country. Third-wave coffee shops are popping up and I decided to make a round-up of the cafes we have tired. These cafes offer single origin coffee beans both imported and locally grown beans. Most of them also roast their own beans.
- Kuppa Roastery & Cafe. If you’re looking for good food, a full meal, try this place out which also serves really good coffee. We have tried bringing home their beans too.
I recommend their Crispy Pata for lunch or dinner. When around BGC, be sure to drop by Kuppa and try their wide range of dishes and coffee. I ordered their latte with 2 shots. (4th Ave. Taguig, Metro Manila)
- Coffee Empire. The barista recommended an Ethiopia Congo Yirgacheffe blend which is tea-like and refreshing in taste for my second cup of coffee. Yes,
I ordered a strong café latte. You can choose whether you like the light, medium or dark roast for your latte. They have different line-up of food which is prepared by their chef. The interior is nice and spacious with a roasting room and you’d be able to see some bags or sacks of coffee beans. We have tried their beans at home about twice already. (West Ave., Quezon City, Metro Manila) - Craft Coffee Revolution. We visited this place about three times already. The baristas even recalled that we had been here. They have a latte art barista champ in the house. The second time we visited, I had their brewed coffee with Chemex. The result was a clean clear taste of freshly brewed beans.
- Refinery. This time, I dismissed ordering a cup of latte which I normally do when visiting a coffee shop.
I chose from the list of special coffee origins for the pour-over method of brewing coffee. They offer a silver container and allow one to pour the coffee to the cup. It’s more than a cup 
but it’s really tasty and a familiar Ethiopian blend with a different hint of citrus flavor at the tip of the tongue, quite different from the one I’ve tasted before. They serve Lamill Coffee beans and great food. I’m glad our cousin decided to visit this cafe. I’m definitely going back for their coffee and sandwiches. (Rockwell, Makati) - EDSA BDG. One of our friends had already visited this place so she was the one who drove us there.
They serve great coffee that you’d be tempted to have another cup but I resisted. The design of the place is more like a workshop area for baristas and learners alike. They offer cupping during Wednesdays which is open to public at 10am. The interior is divided into rooms but you are free to choose where you’d like to stay. They can improve more on the design of the interior. This place is definitely worth going back to whether to hang out with friends or just to enjoy their coffee. (EDSA, Brgy. Wack Wack Walk, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila) - Yardstick. It was not a good first time visit we had here. My cousin had been looking forward to try out this café for a long time but due to its location, it hasn’t been easy to decide on a schedule. She’s usually busy joggling the schedules of her kids and finally on a whim she decided to go to Yardstick. We even entered the restaurant beside it which we thought later that we should have tried. We went out and entered Yardstick (only to find out they have some sort of trap door linking both places). Upon entering Yardstick, we were not greeted by anyone there and even when we looked confused on the menu or how it works, no one approached us. It’s okay though, we figured them out together. The place is designed as having workstations where the customers can see how their drinks are being made, but we didn’t felt at ease approaching the baristas.
The reviews said that the baristas would know if the customers coming in were coffee enthusiasts, coffee drinkers or those who simply were just finding a new place to try. We are coffee lovers trying to explore different type of beans, but we didn’t get the accommodating experience. This differed greatly from our coffee experience in Singapore. Their coffee is good though and the presentation is quite unique. We would of course give another chance to Yardstick because it has many great reviews and feedback from people. (Esteban, Makati City) - The Curator. We have visited this place for the third time already and each time we’ve been bringing home beans. We don’t live nearby so we had to ask them to grind the beans right then. The baristas were very accommodating and they would explain to you
their coffee and introduce new ways to enjoy coffee. They welcome new and old guests alike. We found this place online among the lists of coffee shops that serve good coffee. They indeed have great coffee. If you order café latte, you can choose to have a light roast blend or their dark matter theory by #YKW Roasters. We brought home two more bags of beans (Panama Carmen Estate – 200g and Ethiopian Sidamo Guji Suke Quto – 200g) #YKW Roasters from our last visit. (Palanca cor. Legazpi St., Makati City) - Department of Coffee. This place is near my cousin’s house and we have visited it twice already.
This might be a nice move from their previous location. Near it is Rub Ribs & BBQ. On our second visit, we had lunch first at Rub Ribs and then transferred here for the coffee. We had the whole place to ourselves. (Alejandro Roces, Quezon City)
Tips when visiting specialty cafes:
*Check their social media accounts if they are open for the day you are visiting. Sometimes they would be closed for private events but they would post it on their Facebook or Instagram accounts.
*When visiting the cafe, don’t hesitate to ask the baristas questions about their coffee, chances are they’d be happy to explain to you their beans and types of coffee.
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