In this column, are some histographic notes on the wonderful beans’ conquest as how it conquered the world and became part of mankind’s great sustenance and cheer.

- Coffee was discovered in about 850 A.D., when an Arabian goatherd named Kaldi tried it when he noticed that his goats frolicked all day and night after eating the leaves and berries of the coffee plant.

- In 1554, the first coffee house opened in Constantinople.

- In 1652, coffee gained its popularity when a number of coffeehouses sprouted in London.

- Coffeehouses were once ordered to be closed by King Charles II, to inhibit the spread of malicious information as it became a place with unending discussions about everything, including politics and governance.

- In America, it also became the discussion venue of New York merchants, that’s why it was claimed to be the birthplace of American union.

- In the Philippines, it was claimed that the Spanish friars where the ones who introduced the drink. Coffee came to its richness in Lipa, Batangas in the 17th century. Actually, during that time, the country became the sole supplier of coffee to the world.

- The basic criteria in which coffees were checked are aroma, acidity, body and flavor.

Majority of today’s coffee shops offer imported coffees from countries like Columbia, Costa Rica, Africa and more, but only a few are offering coffee from our country, which the Filipinos should try and support.

The leading coffee shop in the country released years ago a very Filipino coffee named Kape Vinta. It is made of Arabica beans from South Cotabato and Indonesia. The blend produces a strong yet smooth taste with a hint of spiciness. Starbucks came up with this product because they saw the potential of Philippine coffee and for the purpose of helping the local farmers. By the way, though the coffee plants were grown in Mindanao, the beans were brought to Seattle for roasting according to Starbucks’ standards.

Figaro is a coffee company that fully supports Philippine coffee (barako, Amadeo coffee, etc.). It has brought back the classic character of the magnificent days of Lipa, where living can be compared to the Madrid lifestyle because of coffee. Figaro came up with Classico, the newest and greatest blend with full body but smooth characteristic. They also produced Caramel Frost Light for those on diet with low fat caramel and whipped cream.

This is somewhat small but it is one of the best coffee shops in the country, selling only pure Arabica coffee (which is rare in the country) from the mountains of Cordillera. You can say that all their coffee selection is best because you can feel the hardships of the farmers in the far-flung areas of the Cordillera Region Cordillera Coffee in Xaviereville Ave., Quezon City helps the country’s coffee industry by sourcing out coffees from the said region. Owners Frank and Mary Grace Young came up with a project called Coffee AID (Assistance for Indigenous Development) which was geared to eventually boom Pinoy coffees for export under a "True Philippine Brand."

Taste Associate Editor Jeremy C. Malcampo declares this restaurant as the most promising and most romantic cafe in Quezon City.

And in a conversation, Malcampo said that Cordillera Coffee is a new place of comfort Pinoy dishes that reflected the chef’s truest side.

This coffee shop competes with the standards of leading coffee shops with their good blend of coffee and wide selection in their menu, which uses native ingredients from the region.

Here, all coffee concoctions are at prime panache, because the beans are planted, cared and harvested by our brothers of the Cordillera Region.

Very nice blends coming from this coffee shop are mostly combined roasts from Cotabato, Cordillera and Italy. But, the genius behind this quaint but cozy cafe is a Cebuano.

Now, Bo’s coffee is available even to Manileños. A branch in Glorietta, Makati City, is currently a favorite chat-spot of Cebuanos based in Manila.

Before, drinking coffee is a personal thing for the Filipino families, where the mother took effort to grind the roasted coffee seeds and boil it to perfection and taken in together with biscuits and other favorites during merienda time. But today, with the availability of coffee shops in every corner, sold for less than a hundred pesos, coffee drinking became an easy thing. However, the loosing part of it is that as we quickly run for a seat on these Western coffee shops, we tend to forget our coffee tradition. Most of all, we get to neglect our own brand of coffee. The Philippines does have great coffees but because of lack of support from the Filipinos, it is being exported to other countries. So to help our own farmers and our economy, let us support our own coffee available at coffee shops stated above.