FEATURE:
Bohol barako: specialty coffee
for underserved niche market
Coffee shops and cafes, they are a dime a dozen and have become the favourite hang-outs for young professionals and students.
For the coffee lover, aside from picking the hip café, much of the pull is actually because of the kind of coffee the joint serves: their Robusta, Arabica or their Liberica roasted beans.
Robusta is that coffee that is known for its strong bold bitter earthly flavor, high caffeine content. For farmers, Coffea canephora is a crop so sturdy that it can be grown in lower altitudes, resistant to pests and diseases and suits Bohol’s warm to temperate climates, making its far cheaper to grow.
Robusta seeds are small and round, should be picked when properly ripe, dried and roasted then ground to a fine consistency.
Robusta is that which makes your instant coffee, and is often used in espresso blends.
On the other hand, Arabica is that coffee (Coffea arabica) is acclaimed as the most popular and widely loved coffee in the world—especially for its smooth, aromatic, and complex flavors.
Known for its Smooth, slightly sweet, fruity, floral, or chocolatey flavour, Arabica may not be as strong with half the caffeine than Robusta. It has higher acidity however, with a pleasant bright taste bringing back memories of wine.
Arabicas have been known to grow at higher elevations with a little bit of cooler climates, thus demands more care and tends to be more expensive when grown.
Its seeds tend to be larger and oval shaped, handpicked when properly ripe, dried and the ground to a coarse consistency to get its desired aroma, nuances in its balanced flavour and other pleasant chocolatey and nutty suggestions.
While most of the world picks these two coffee beans experience, there is a third kind that has hardly been acknowledged: Liberica coffee.
Liberica coffee (Coffea liberica) is a rare, bold, and very distinctive third major coffee species—especially important in the Philippines, where it’s famously called Barako.
Coffee connoisseurs have picked the woody, smoky, floral, sometimes jackfruit-tasting nuance, with dark chocolate and spicey notes of the Liberia-originated coffee, which tastes heavy and yet syrupy.
Sitting in between Robusta and Arabica in caffeine levels, Liberica may need higher elevations and hot and humid climates, and has been among the sturdier forest coffee that have survived in the wilds, making them suitable for Bohol.
“Coffee in Bohol has long existed at the margins, grown by smallholders, often unmanaged, usually underappreciated. Yet the conditions have always been there. Elevation pockets, suitable rainfall, resilient farmers, and a quiet agricultural discipline shaped by generations of diversified farming,” assert Amoguis Coffee Estate owners, during a recent event in Mabini, Bohol.
“Liberica coffee is more than just a heritage crop; it is a high-potential agricultural product that fits Bohol’s unique geography and the growing global demand for specialty flavors,” states Cacao and Coffee Industry Cluster Coordinator for Central Visayas Blair Panong.
“For local farmers, it offers a path toward sustainable income that is less vulnerable to the pitfalls of mass-market commodities,” he added, as a viable option for Boholanos.
Historically a sturdy crop that outlasted the Robustas and Arabica’s when disease almost wiped out the Robusta plantations then, Liberica’s hardiness is its greatest asset.
When other coffee shrubs spread their root systems, Liberica digs deep, accessing deeper water sources making it prone to survive droughts, thrive in clay substrates and limestone foundations of the lowlands.
Since Liberica is a forest coffee , it can grow tall when unpruned and become a perfect multi cropping option in cacao, coconut, its deep roots drawing out from the deep nutrients and minerals, helping other crops nearby, besides offering its shade.
“Because Liberica represents less than 2% of the world’s coffee, Boholano farmers aren’t competing with giant plantations in Brazil or Vietnam, plus being a niche and “specialty” bean, it doesn’t follow the volatile price drops of the New York Coffee Exchange that farmers can often command a higher, more stable price per kilo, Panong pointed out.
As to its added value for the same harvest, as Liberica beans are bigger, the dried pulp can be processed into coffee cherry tea, providing for extra incomes.
Finally, Panong said Bohol has a strong reputation for high-quality local products. Liberica fits perfectly into this Premium Bohol identity, offering unique flavor profile of the tropical fruits and floral notes making it a coffee option for tourists and connoisseurs.
He also sees a ready market for Farm-to-Cup circuits which allow farmers to sell directly to resorts and cafes, bypassing middle-men and increasing their take-home profit. (PIABohol)
THE LIBERICA PROMISE. Sturdier crop, easier to grow due to its adaptability to the local environment, better flavour and ideal for multicropping, Liberica coffee can be Bohol’s barako brand when farmers choose to grow these for added income. (PIABohol)
