The Igorot and his Coffee

            Whenever one visits an Igorot home, one is served with coffee; whenever an Igorot community gathers for a tongtongan (talking together), coffee is served; whenever Igorots celebrate a canyao (festival), coffee is drunk alternately with the tapuy (rice wine).  Indeed, coffee is an important beverage in Igorot culture!

            Generally, two types of coffee are grown in the Cordilleras: the well-known “Benguet coffee” (coffea arabica) and the “Robusta coffee” (coffea robusta).  The “Benguet coffee” is grown in the higher altitudes of the Cordilleras, above 1,000 meters, as in Benguet and Mountain Province; the “Robusta coffee,” in lower, warmer elevations as in Ifugao, Kalinga and Apayao.  Besides being a typical drink among Igorots, coffee too has medicinal values.  It counteracts drunkenness, alleviates headaches and eases difficulties in urination. Today, there are other discoveries, such as the coffee’s possibility of preventing cancer. 

            Of course, like any drink, coffee has its limitations. It should not be drunk in excess because of the presence of caffeine, a strong central nervous system stimulant.  It is advisable that patients with ulcer should not drink coffee.  Children who need sleep for growth may not be given coffee, because it produces insomnia.

            Perhaps, to augment the income of people in the Cordilleras and to help alleviate poverty, we need to explore more aggressively the commercial possibilities of our native coffee.  For centuries, Igorots have planted and drunk coffee.  By now, they may well have become its natural growers.  The Cordillera terrain and climate is also fitting for its growth.  Coffee is a gift to our people.  Wonderful are the ways of Divine Providence!