For those coffee addicts who drinks coffee on a daily to help them start their day or those who just enjoy the taste of every cup but doesn’t really know about coffee on a certain level like I do, well read on because I’m about to share what I just learned on a recent Coffee Appreciation Session with FUJINOYA Philippines.

But before I start, let me take a sip of my Cappuccino. Okay done. LOL

A month back, just before I left for vacation, I spent my Wednesday afternoon with Fujinoya Philippines talking and learning about Coffee. Coffee connoisseur and Fujinoya president, Carlostito Gothong (also known as Tidow Gothong) held an intimate coffee appreciation session with a few of us bloggers. You can really see his love and passion towards coffee the entire time while doing the talk.

Before I go ahead and share to you what I learned that afternoon, let me share a little background on how Fujinoya came about.

Fujinoya is a Japanese cake shop which originates from Japan. It all started when the founder Mr. Hideyoshi Goto opened a shop in 1950. Now his eldest son, Chef Hideo Goto, continues until today what his father started. Tidow Gothong on the other hand while on his third year taking up Business Administration and a person that’s passionate about coffee, decided to open a coffee shop for a school project that turned into a successful business and partnered up with Chef Hideo which was the one who introduced him the combination of Western and Japanese techniques in making traditional Japanese cakes that uses only the best ingredients from Japan.

Fujinoya is now two years running and is still serving their best version of specialty coffee at a reasonable price for everyone to try. Every cup of coffee is made with love and passion from their well trained baristas.

Now from what I have learned from Fujinoya’s Coffee Appreciation Session, I have been able to identify the following objectives:
– Know and differentiate the types of coffee presented
– Learn to drink coffee the right way
– Learn a few coffee brewing methods

Coffee is actually a fruit.

Coffee beans as we know them are actually the pits of a cherry-like berry that are grown on bushes. Even though coffee is actually a seed, it’s called a bean because of its resemblance to actual beans.

Now on to a little introduction of the coffee being used.

Dark Roast Coffee – much more roasted and is commonly used by commercial coffee like those fraps sold at Starbucks, Bo’s Coffee and other fast food stalls that sells coffee. (Left on the photo above)

Medium Roast Coffee – more chocolaty and sweet and is what specialty coffee mostly made of. Also a bit more expensive than the commercial coffee. (Right on the photo above)

Cafe Latte

A cafe latte is a single shot of espresso to three parts of steamed milk. It also has a a layer of foam which is there to prevent the heat of getting out of the coffee. Another purpose of the foam is to protect our lips from direct heat of the coffee. Traditionally served in a cup of glass which is a commonly used in HongKong and in the US.

Latte Art (as you see on cafe latte and sometimes in a cappuccino) is a method of preparing coffee pouring steamed milk into the cup to create these beautiful art on top of the coffee. But did you know that is not just about the art? The process of pouring the milk into the cup is one way to mix both the espresso and the milk without having to stir the mixture using a stirrer or a spoon. The results makes the coffee taste even, from the first sip til the last!

Cappuccino

Cappuccino has more coffee than milk and has more foam compared to cafe latte. This is one of the popular coffee drink among others. Commonly served on a ceramic cup and finished off with some sprinklers of chocolate powder or cinnamon.

Espresso

The espresso is the base and foundation of espresso based coffee such as cafe latte and cappuccino. You can add a bit of sugar or have it on its own.

Did you know?

A milk used in the coffee should have a certain temperature (135F – 145F for Fujinoya) because a milk that is too hot will cook the coffee beans more and will overall make your coffee watery.

There is no specific ratio for the espresso and milk at Fujinoya. They serve their coffee in a ratio what they think taste good for its customers.

Now here are a few methods in making coffee:

Pour Over method

All you need is a ground coffee – 15 grams of coffee beans from India (Burundi beans) in this case, a filter and a filter holder. Very self explanatory. Once everything is in place, you just pour the water over and through the coffee ground and through the filter to extract the coffee flavor into the cup of serving vessel. (Photos below)

The measuring thing below is just there for the barista to know how much water was already poured into the cup.

AeroPress Method

Also a very simple brewing method. All you need is a AeroPress brewing device, ground coffee (Ardi Simada beans from South Africa was being used during the demo) and hot water. Simply pour the water with the beans inside the device and press down to extract the coffee to the cup! (photo below)

Another demo (which i got no photo of) was the:

12 Hour Cold Brew

Same extraction of the same coffee above using the AeroPress but this time after extraction, it was placed inside the refrigerator for 12 hours before serving.

Pour over method (on top) has a medium color compared to the one used by AeroPress (left) which has a lighter color than the one that was stored on the refrigerator for 12 long hours (right).

Now, I have learned to appreciate more the art, love and passion the barista poured into every cup of coffee I had and will have. I hope you learned a thing or two as much as i did too by just reading this. Thank you also for Fujinoya PH for having me and by this I am happy to help spread coffee awareness and appreciation to everyone I know as well.

Aside from specialty coffee, Fujinoya also serves food and a wide variety of desserts you sure don’t want to skip! yum!

Fujinoya Cebu is located at Wilson Street, Lahug Cebu City 6000 (Beside Pino Restaurant) and is open from 10:00AM – 10:00PM daily. There are available parking space beside the cafe and good WiFi connections with power outlets for your convenience.

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