Kapeng Barako Coffee

Kapeng Barako Coffee: A Disaster Transformed into Success

The world loves the mellow flavor of Arabica coffee. Arabica dominates 90% of the global coffee market and generates close to $100 billion dollars in sales every year. Liberian coffee on the other hand accounts for only 1% of the market, cafes rarely serve it and only a few coffee drinkers keep it in their pantries. All this is about to change, though, thanks to Filipinos and their love of Kapeng Barako. As Liberian coffee enters the spotlight, many people are asking what differentiates Liberian coffee from Arabica and how do you make Kapeng Barako?  This article will answer both of those questions and hopefully turn you into a Kapeng Barako aficionado!

Differences between Arabica and Liberian Coffee

Liberian coffee dwarfs the Arabica variety in three different ways:

• Size – All varieties of coffee come from wild coffee plants that populate the steep mountainsides and flat highlands of Africa. Arabica coffee grows especially well in Ethiopia, while Liberian prefers western Africa, specifically Liberia, Angola and their neighboring countries. Whether in their native land or somewhere in the tropics around the world, Arabica plants top off their growth at about 16 ft. (5m) high, but Liberian plants continue growing to 65 ft. (20m) tall and 6-8 ft.(2-2.5m) wide. 
• Productivity – Coffee plants require 40-60 in. (100-150 cm.) of rainfall every year. If they receive adequate moisture, both Liberian and Arabica plants reach maturity in 7 years. The plants begin producing a few fragrant flowers and even coffee beans when they are 3-4 years old and their yield gradually increases until it reaches about 10 lbs. (4.5 kg) of coffee cherries every year for Arabica plants and at least twice as much for Liberian plants. Liberian beans are double the size of other coffee beans and their sides tend to be uneven which produces a distinctive hook at the bottom. 
• Flavor – Roasting, blending and brewing techniques modify Arabica’s sweet, smooth flavor and bring out a myriad different tones which range from sugar and spice to berries and nuts. In contrast, Liberian coffee tastes overwhelming strong at first but as you savor it, you will notice hints of flowers and fruit in the powerful aroma, as well as smoky and woody tones hidden within the earthy flavor. 

Kapeng Barako: Its Origin and Recipe

Arabica coffee traveled from Mexico to the Philippines in the late 1700s. Composed of more than 7,000 mountainous islands surrounded by the Philippine and South China Sea, the Philippines provide the tropical weather and high altitude that coffee plants need to thrive. The coffee seedlings quickly put down roots and by the mid-1800s the exportation of coffee contributed significantly to the Filipino economy.

In 1888, coffee farmers all across the Philippines began noticing powdery, yellow lesions on the underside of the coffee plants’ leaves. All the Arabica coffee plants died the following year from a fungus that is now known as coffee rust.  This was a disaster for many Filipino farmers and the country’s economy, but it opened the door for fungus-resistant Liberian coffee to enter the Philippines especially the provinces of Batangas and Cavite.

Batangas and Cavite coffee producers worked hard to reestablished their plantations with the Liberian coffee plants and reclaim their slice of the global coffee market. Along the way, they fell in love with the distinct flavor of Liberian coffee and began calling it manly coffee or Kapeng Barako. The nickname not only referred to the strong flavor, but also to the courage and strength that they needed to have in order to turn their disaster into success.

You can give Barako beans a medium grind and use them in a drip coffee machine or grind them finely for use in an espresso machine, but the best flavor comes from making Kapeng Barako the Filipino way:

Filipino Kapeng Barako

Ingredients:

4 cups of water

2 tablespoons coarsely ground Barako coffee

2-4 tablespoons of brown sugar

Directions:

In a saucepan, bring the water to a rolling boil and then decrease the heat before adding the Barako coffee, preferably freshly ground. Allow the coffee to simmer for about 1 minute. This gentle simmer begins releasing the caffeols, or coffee oils, which contain all the flavor and aroma of the coffee bean. Once the simmer is completed, turn off the heat and stir in the brown sugar or as a Filipino would call it muscovado. This brown sugar not only adds iron, magnesium and calcium, but it also gives the Kapeng Barako a molasses or even caramel flavor which truly complements the strong coffee. After you have stirred in the sugar, cover the saucepan and allow it to steep for 3-5 minutes before you strain and serve it.

Kapeng Barako is delicious black or with cream and it can be incorporated into coffee desserts, such as coffee cream pie or mocha cheesecake. Everywhere it goes Kapeng Barako reminds us that disaster and success can walk hand in hand.