Enjoying your cup of coffee?

As you savor its goodness, in any which way you love it either black, espresso or with cream, did you know that the coffee you love undergoes a wild journey before it reaches your cup?

In one of the most interesting events I attended this year, The UCC Coffee Academy, a newly opened facility offering special courses and trainings for coffee lovers and for those who want to own their own coffee shop, hold a seminar about the fundamentals of Coffee. You see, coffee is still a mystery to me. For many, coffee makes them perky, lively but it has an opposite effect on me – it makes me sleepy that is why I love coffee in a different way. But during the seminar, with a cup of coffee made by UCC Managing Director Robert Francisco, I was unusually attentive and love the lecture about coffee, which is one of the prerequisite in the courses they have.

At the start of the program, Mr. Francisco told us about the Academy and how it will replicate the Japanese way of holding the classes. Looking around, I love the set up where students who will attend it will have the tools they need to master their craft. The bonus part is the wonderful smell of coffee and coffee beans permeating the air. 

Coffee Fundamentals: From crop to cup is a revelation to me. We’ve learned more about the farmers who grow the perfect bean, the concepts of harvesting, post-harvest processing, sorting, and trading quality coffee beans. We were made aware of the process, from farm to cup' and its effect on the coffee beans. Moreover, we get to know what decaffeination is.

Did you know that coffee roasting involve lots of process and there’s also about blending, which is done after roasting the coffee to its optimum desire level.

What interest me the most is the 3rd Wave Specialty Coffee, a concept or manner of serving coffee and one which consider coffee as artisanal.

Indeed, the lecture is highly interesting and worth recommending. It may be quite an overload of coffee knowledge but it’s totally worth it.

Special thanks to the coffee guru of the Philippines, Sir Robert Francisco, for all the wonderful knowledge on coffee.

The UCC Coffee Academy is located at 3/F Uptown Parade.

For those interested to attend lectures at the Academy, the December calendar includes classes on Advanced Barista, Dec. 5 – 7; and Latte Art, Dec. 10.