Highlights
- Felis and her family lived in Negros for two years before moving to Australia.
- Coffee is a nuanced product, easily altered with processing, roasting and brewing.
- The trio seeks to bring more Filipino coffee to Australia in the future in order to further help Filipino farmers and introduce their produce to others.
SBS Filipino's 'Kape Serye' is a collection of features celebrating Filipino-owned cafés; Filipino baristas, producers, distributors and coffee aficionados; and of course, the Philippine-grown coffee bean.
"In Negros, when we would take a jeep to or from San Enrique where we lived, we would be asked to get dropped off by the akasya [acacia] tree. It was a landmark, a meeting place, a waiting spot for the community even if we weren't going anywhere," Felis Sarcepuedes shares.
From a marker of Felis' youth, the acacia tree in San Enrique has evolved to become a metaphor of sorts for her and her business partners.
Felis, Joel and Inday Source: Akasya Kape / Maysie Lecciones
For Felis, her sister Inday and their family friend Joel, the communal acacia represents their hopes of bringing the Melbourne community of coffee aficionados together and uplifting the community of Filipino coffee farmers.
Childhood in San Enrique
Felis and her family lived in her parents' hometown of San Enrique, in the province of Negros Occidental for two years before moving to Australia.
"We all moved to Negros from Manila except mum because she was still working.
"It was our way of saving up and spending time with our grandparents before moving to Melbourne. I was only 10-years old when we left for Australia."
Even though it's been a while since Felis has been to San Enrique, she still feels connected to the little town.
"My fondest memory was picking fruits from our lot to sell to our teachers and classmates because we didn't have pocket money. We had fruit trees like santol and mabolo.
Even though it has been a while since Felis has been to San Enrique, she still feels connected to the little town. Source: Felis Sarcepuedes
"Everyone was always over our house because we lived near our school. We played probinsya [provincial] baseball without a proper bat," she laughs, adding, "It was good. Life was simple."
It was that simple life that her parents missed. After her dad had a stroke and her parents were forced to retire, the pair decided to live half of the year in Negros and the other half in Melbourne.
"Maybe in the last three or four years, whenever they would go back, I would ask mum to bring coffee back for me because that was the only way I could get Filipino coffee. It made me think that if I was interested in Filipino coffee, I'm sure others would be as well.
"Being part of , it brought on the inspiration that if I needed something done, I could do it myself."
"Being part of The Entree.Pinays, it brought on the inspiration that if I needed something done, I could do it myself." Source: The Entree.Pinays
Mahjong and coffee
Felis, a draftsperson by trade, initially didn't know where to start with her idea; but luckily, she had a mum who played mahjong.
"So I shared this idea with my sister Inday and because my mum was always at Joel's mum's house to play mahjong, she found out that Joel had plans of building his own café. Mum told him to hit me up so we could create something."
That something was Akasya [acacia] Kape [coffee].
"Finding a supplier wasn't that hard because I was already following a few coffee people in the Philippines already. I ended up messaging [the supplier] Kalsada," she says.
That something was Akasya [acacia] Kape [coffee]. Source: Akasya Kape
"What was difficult was the documentation. It was mid-pandemic and there was no way we could ship the green beans via sea. We went through DHL which is more expensive but quicker."
The trio ordered a sack of Sitio Belis beans from Kalsada.
"We chose Sitio Belis because we liked the flavour profile. It has a hint of calamansi [citrus fruit] and coconut jam. It has a rich, nutty and bold flavour.
"We chose Sitio Belis because we liked the flavour profile. It has a hint of calamansi [citrus fruit] and coconut jam. It has a rich, nutty and bold flavour." Source: Akasya Kape / Kalsada Coffee
"We decided to outsource roasting because we wanted to make sure it was done right. We only had one sack and we didn't want to take the chance. I looked into roasting ourselves, but I didn't want to stuff up," Felis laughs.
Their beans are roasted by Little Gecko Roasters in Newport.
"Grace of The Entree.Pinays referred Little Gecko to us. Ollie, the owner, knows Grace. We're lucky because he really took his time. He knew we didn't know much about coffee, so it was a huge learning process for us. He caters to a few cafés around Melbourne, so he knows how to roast for the local palate.
Their beans are roasted by Little Gecko Roasters in Newport. Source: Akasya Kape
"Coffee has so many nuances. Two people can roast differently and that changes the taste of the coffee. Brewing also changes it. Taste depends on so many factors."
Here and there
The other factors taste is dependent on are on the farm level.
"The kind of crop, soil and processing affect how coffee will turn out. That's why the communities that tend to the crops are important.
"These communities go through so much already growing the crops. Men, women and children are all involved. Now that there's a pandemic, they don't know if products are going to sell or how they're going to get them to the city.
"We and in Sydney consolidate our order and we're hoping to get more people to join. We want to be able to support farmers and buy their crops. It's a slow process, but we're hoping to get more cafés interested."
"These communities go through so much already growing the crops. Men, women and children are all involved." Source: Akasya Kape / Kalsada Coffee
Felis is thankful for the Filipino cafés that do support their endeavour.
"Melo of Migrant Café is a good friend of mine and she's stocked our coffee. We also have a couple of bags in . They display our coffee so people know about us.
"Getting Filipino coffee out there is fulfilling. We sent some of our coffee bags to the farmers so they can see the final product.
"They're so proud to have their produce around the world, to see their efforts paying off. For us, it's just a cup of coffee; but for them, it's their life." Source: Akasya Kape
"They're so proud to have their produce around the world, to see their efforts paying off. For us, it's just a cup of coffee; but for them, it's their life."
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