Benguet Arabica

Dreaming of cultivating shade-grown Benguet Arabica Coffee. We envision planting coffee under the canopy of Benguet pine and Alnos trees.  Shade grown coffee is a way of growing coffee in concert with nature.

I am looking forward to “Shade Grown Coffee – The Movie” , a movie about the coffee making process, all the way from harvesting the ripe cherries to preparing your favourite cup of coffee.
Source of featured image: Image via ©Shade Grown Coffee – The Movie.

The coffee variety, ARABICA, is now officially in the Slow Food’s Ark of Taste as the number of trees in Benguet continue to dwindle. Many reasons contribute to its declining population, such as climate change, coupled with the diminishing interest of the younger generation to go into coffee farming. Read more?

It started with a cup of coffee on January 9, 2018,  just as we drove down from my husband’s ancestral hometown somewhere in Benguet.  My daughter reminded me that we needed to buy Benguet coffee at the Baguio Public market.  Sure, sure, I said.

I forgot how the coffee project idea  started but I remember dropping the question to my daughter:

“if you love coffee so much, maybe you should be a coffee farmer?” or was it “maybe you should plant coffee?”

YES! And that is how it started. A cup of Benguet Arabica brew to inspire us.

I know it will take three to five years to harvest the Arabica beans and that our family will need to study more about coffee farming, from bean to brew and everything in between.

This is our journey

My husband and I , together with our two daughters aspire to  plant Arabica under the canopy of Benguet Pine and Alnos trees.  This is a family project together with the rest of the Dado family members and future partners.

 

• Noemi Lardizabal- Dado

For any inquiries on collaboration or partnerships, please contact me at [email protected]

Thank you.

Noemi Lardizabal-Dado