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Caffé Bene is a popular coffee joint in South Korea and it expands its reach in the Philippines by opening its first store in Eastwood City last November 2012. We all know how much Pinoys love their coffee, and adding a new option in the mix is definitely a welcome occurrence. Tonight, Caffé Bene held an exclusive event that aims to educate foodies about “The Bene Difference”.

Headed by Mr. Desmond Chua, President of Caffé Bene in the Philippines, a brief walk-through about the company and about “cupping” was discussed. An important thing to note about Caffé Bene, aside from knowing that all of their materials come from high quality sources, is that their beans are medium roasted. Contrary to what we know, medium roasted coffee beans offer the best taste in coffee. You can even down a cup sugar-free.

Desmond Chua, President Caffé Bene

By the way, caffé is coffee in Italian while bene is good. Therefore, Caffé Bene translates to “good coffee”.

To experience the quality and taste of Caffé Bene coffee beans, we tried to perform cupping first-hand. We were given three different types of beans where one of them is the Caffé Bene’s. Can you guess from the mere appearance which one is Caffé Bene‘s beans?

The first container holds Caffé Bene’s beans. The golden brown color of the beans signify medium roast that creates a perfect cup every time.

Different Coffee Beans

Ground Coffee Beans

Cupping involves a series of steps and the one we tried is just the shortened version because in reality, there is a formal way to learn it. Basically, it involves cooking ground coffee beans, breaking it, skimming it, smelling it, and finally, tasting it. Cupping normally involves several coffee beans so it is customary to spit it out, much like wine tasting.

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Tags: Caffé Bene, coffee, cupping, honey bread, milk tea, misugaru, mocktails, tea, waffle

One fateful day, we took a drive down south to check out this new coffee shop called Black Canyon Coffee. Much to my surprise, it is not a simple coffee hangout place but it appeared more like a full-blown restaurant. Serving more than coffee and tea, Black Canyon Coffee has a good selection of Thai food and other dishes from all over the world.

Black Canyon Coffee

The well-lit and colorful resto of Black Canyon Coffee is conveniently located at the Food Street of SM Southmall. Along the line of other coffee shops and restaurants, it stands out due to its lively ambiance, aromatic beverages, and award-winning food fare. Dining here gives you two options, inside its cozy resto or outside al fresco. I think both are comfortable matched perfectly with its comfort food.

On top of the list of its food lineup are the Tom Yum Goong (PhP 230) and Pad Thai (PhP 194). The Tom Yum Goong or Spicy Prawn Soup at Black Canyon Coffee is a recipe that won that Tom Yum Goong Thailand Championship. This sour and spicy soup closely resembles our sinigang but with a Thai twist and instead of using pork, it had large prawns. We really do not have strong tolerance for spicy food so we requested that they tone down its hotness level.

Tom Yum Goong

The Pad Thai or Thai-style Fried Noodle with Prawn at Black Canyon Coffee won at the Pad Thai World Championship. Aside from being a winner, you really would not want to miss this because according to CNN’s World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods, Pad Thai ranked #5. Preecha Athaboh, the resident Thai chef of Black Canyon Coffee, has a brother and he is the one responsible for this highly-acclaimed version of Pad Thai.

Pad Thai

It looks like Black Canyon Coffee designed the menu according to my liking because they have Salmon Steak (PhP 292), a dish I would love to see in almost any menu. In fact when I am in Yabu House of Katsu, their salmon katsu is my usual order. Black Canyon Coffee’s Salmon Steak is rich and tender, with all the juicy flavor of the sea packed into the meat. It is perfect especially with fries and salad sides.

Salmon Steak

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Tags: black canyon coffee, coffee, milk tea, omelette, pad thai, prawns, sm southmall, tea, tom yum