Kubo Coffee

12/03/2026

Four years ago, when we last parked the roastery, there was one coffee we kept returning to in conversation: a peach-forward lot from Jairo Arcila. It was bright and almost disarmingly juicy. It was the kind of cup that made people pause and realize that fruit-forward coffee wasn’t a novelty. It was simply another way coffee could speak.

This release is our way of returning, not out of nostalgia, but recognition. Some ideas are worth revisiting with clearer eyes.

The coffee comes from Quindío, Colombia, where altitude, rainfall, and temperature combine to produce coffees known for balanced acidity and layered aromatics. At Santa Monica Farm, Jairo Arcila continues experimenting with fermentation techniques that shape how flavor develops in the cup.

Science helps explain why these experiments matter. Coffee contains hundreds of aromatic compounds responsible for the complex flavors we perceive. Fermentation, particularly controlled yeast fermentation, influences how these compounds develop during processing (Pereira et al., 2020).

For this lot, Jairo introduced wine yeast for a grape co-fermentation, resulting in a cup that foregrounds fruit clarity without abandoning structure.

We understand that coffees like this divide opinion. Among some purists, co-fermented lots raise questions about authenticity and transparency. We take those concerns seriously, but innovation, when intentional and traceable, can expand the language of coffee rather than diminish it.

For many drinkers, coffees like this become the first moment of recognition: the realization that coffee notes can be vivid, legible, and even playful. Sometimes that moment is what brings someone fully into coffee for the first time.

This LIMITED release is available through our webshop. 🛖

02/03/2026

There was a time when our days ended behind a cocktail bar. We learned discipline, timing, silence, and the weight of a well-cut ice cube. We also learned from legendary mistakes, the kind that sting just enough to make you better. But what stayed with us most were guest shifts.

The idea was simple: invite someone in. Let another bar take over yours. Share space. Share regulars. Give people a taste of something they might not otherwise travel or pay to experience. When done right, it isn’t just about drinks. It’s about generosity.

Guest shifts made beverages accessible. They made rooms more inclusive. They reminded everyone that hospitality can be relational, not just transactional. So this time, it’s our turn.

On March 9, we’re honored to be doing a guest shift at S A T O R Īl, a space known for taking coffee seriously. We like to think we take coffee seriously, so you don’t have to. Expect something balanced: thoughtful, a little playful, and grounded but not rigid.

We’re also grateful for the full support of GIFFARD PHILIPPINES, who extended that same generous
spirit to our creative direction for the menu.

🛖 1:00–2:00 PM — Free short class on bean defects (12 max registrants through http://tinyurl.com/kubosatoriclass)

🛖 2:00–9:00 PM — Guest shift proper

We’ll be serving signature beverages and a few fun surprises for those part of our Instagram broadcast channel.

Come early. Stay curious. Let’s make room for each other again!

26/02/2026

18/02/2026

For a small roastery, visibility doesn’t always come easy. Space in rooms like these with large halls, bright lights, and established names can feel distant. What makes the difference is when people choose to make room. Eightyplus has been that for us.

On February 27, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, we’ll be brewing at World Food Expo (WOFEX) at the World Trade Center, Pasay, hosted by EightyPlus Coffee Philippines, a premium green bean supplier we’re proud to work with. They don’t just move green coffee across borders; they build relationships across scales. They understand that quality grows not only through origins and processing, but by the ecosystems we create around it, where small roasters can grow without being crowded out. So this event is more than brewing in a booth. It’s a moment of gratitude. A reminder that access, when shared, multiplies.

If you’re heading to , come by the Eightyplus Coffee booth. Have a cup with us. Talk green sourcing, roasting, risk, growth—or simply say hello. We’ll be there because partnerships like this deserve to be shown up for.

11/02/2026

There are mornings when coffee appears on the table as if by habit: hot, familiar, and unquestioned. And there are mornings when we remember that before the cup, there was a person. Before the aroma, there was a landscape. Before the routine, there was a life shaped by weather, labor, and waiting.

Paul Barreto’s documentary “Ma’am Tere” (2023) asks us to pause at that moment of forgetting.

Visibility to coffee farmers in the Philippines is not a sentimental gesture. It is political. Visibility insists that farming is not an abstract origin printed on a bag, but a living practice woven into culture, foodways, and survival. When farmers are seen, coffee stops being just a commodity we consume; it becomes something we are held accountable for. Visibility reshapes how we drink. It reminds us that our preferences, prices, and habits ripple outward, shaping what gets planted, who stays on the land, and whether farming remains possible for the next generation.

Globally, this interrupts the neat narratives of specialty coffee by placing Filipino producers not at the margins, but at the center of the story, where they have always been.

“Ma’am Tere” doesn’t shout. It observes. It asks difficult questions worth sitting with together:

Who gets to be seen as an expert in coffee, and who is expected to remain invisible? What kinds of labor are celebrated, and which are normalized into silence? How does storytelling change the value of what we drink and who benefits from that change? What responsibility do we carry once we know where our coffee comes from?

This is not just something to watch. It’s something to reckon with slowly, thoughtfully, maybe over a cup that suddenly tastes different.

Join us, and let’s talk about what this means as we serve Kalsada Coffee at Ani Cafe, Comuna this Sunday, February 15, followed by a free film screening.

30/01/2026

Community, as we’ve learned, isn’t built through grand gestures. It’s built in quieter moments when you notice a need, when you make room, and when you decide not everything has to be a transaction.

This Wednesday, February 4, from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM, we’re opening that room a little wider. While is in the middle of renovations, three of their barbers—Eli, Radz, and Jullian—will be setting up in the compound with us for a one-day pop-up. 18 slots only. Outdoor setup. Clippers doing their steady, familiar work.

₱500 for a cut
₱650 for cut + beard

Inside, the roastery stays open. Coffee will be poured for those waiting their turn, for those who came early, and for those who just happened to wander in because waiting goes better with a cup in hand, and conversations tend to unfold when there’s somewhere to sit.

Think of it as cuts and cups sharing the same afternoon: two kinds of craft, practiced side by side.

Reservations are strongly encouraged. Community works best when we plan a little. Coming on time helps everyone get their turn. If you’re just here to hang out, the roastery remains Pay-What-You-Can, as always. No grand agenda. Just showing up for each other. Dayón kamo sa Wednesday.

🛖 REGISTRATION: http://tinyurl.com/cutsandcups2026 🛖

29/01/2026

It’s easy to agree that everyone deserves access to quality education. It gets more complicated the moment logistics enter the room, when schedules collide, when money has to be named, when “who gets to learn” becomes a quiet negotiation. That tension is where our Pay-What-You-Can (PWYC) classes come from.

In a landscape where most coffee education takes the form of certification, which is valuable, rigorous, but often expensive, we wanted to build something more permeable. Shorter, focused sessions. Bi-monthly. Shaped by the questions we hear from this community. A way in for the curious drinker, the beginner, and the professional who knows that learning doesn’t end with a badge.

Last Jan 24, we held our first PWYC Sensory Training class. 3 time slots. 5 people at a time. Enough space to slow down and listen. Beginners and professionals crouched in the same corner, tasting from different places in their own histories.

For those new to coffee, we talked about sensory training as a shared language. Taste is memory; memory is cultural. There is no single correct word, no failure in missing a note you’ve never encountered before. Learning flavor is like learning any language. It asks for exposure, attention, and honesty.

For professionals, we returned to calibration and to the reminder that training shouldn’t happen only with rare, expensive lots. Most people in the world aren’t drinking specialty…yet. That reality asks for humility. It asks for care, especially when our feedback shapes livelihoods, not just profiles.

We tasted common notes and defects, isolated aromas and flavors, and cupped together. The session ended the way we hoped it would: with an open bar, shared beans, and generosity moving quietly around the room. It’s a small act, but it’s one we believe in.

When we say Community, Quality, and Transparency, this is what we mean in practice: education that opens doors rather than guards them.

If you’d like to join PWYC sessions, follow our broadcast channel: Mga Kapitbahay. If that’s not available, comment below the topics you’d want to learn. We’ll do our best to make it happen, with the resources we have and the community we’re building together.

08/01/2026

“It takes a village to raise a child” is one of the earliest teachings about shared values and strong community support.

Last November, we finally found a site to build a space that we’d be proud to welcome people and have them witness the ins and outs of running a roastery. When we started in coffee, the roastery felt like the most gatekept space across the chain, and we wanted to bring the warmth we’ve found in neighborhood cafes and the promise of shared insight we gained from meeting people across the chain.

With help from trusted friends, we were able to build an 80 sqm roastery in a commercial compound in Mandaluyong–the center of Metro Manila. The space will soon have neighboring creatives: a bakery, a slow bar, an artist studio and workshop, and a literary hub. We felt that it was the perfect spot for us to join in on the conversations between creatives who value building genuine community that isn’t merely transactional.

What once was a duplex now holds us. The first floor is designed to be a production station and storage area for greens. We left enough room to hold more: more greens for more possibilities of finding clients with shared values, more space for when we’ll eventually upgrade, and definitely more room for products and merch.

Our second floor is not just a cupping station and brewing area, but it is also a space for people to meet people. We ensured that there is enough space to conduct small classes, workshops, and events that will continue to strengthen ties within the coffee chain. It’s also open to anyone who wants to walk in and observe during production days.

From finding the right architect and designer to a team of builders, we were able to watch the duplex transition in a span of just one month. Stainless steel counters and tables were put up. The brand came to life. We’ve moved our stuff into the place.

Kubo was a child raised by a village of support: from regulars who kept us afloat, to clients who were as excited as we are to find a place, to friends who spent time and skills to carry a brick with us, a piece at a time.

And so we say, “Dayón na mo sa Kubo!” 🛖

01/01/2026

Padayon sa 2026. Dayón kamo! 🛖

17/12/2025

The best treat is a meaningful cup and we have enough regular and seasonal offerings for you and your loved ones. Visit our webshop today. 🛖