During my trip to the Philippines I had stayed in Dumaguete for a few days. And one day we went on a tour to the central highlands of the island and part of the trip included visiting the Baslay Highland Brew Coffee project, where we enjoyed a quiet view and some organic coffee.
Background
I was in the island of Dumaguete for a small class reunion. And one day my friend’s son who was taking diving lessons there invited us to go with him a tour to a local coffee plantation.
And off we went.
We got onto a motorbike and rode to the hills of Negros Oriental. The plantation is located about 30 minutes by the motorbike from Dumaguete city.
After a rough ride, the tail end of which was mostly gravel road, we reached the plantation.
The Baslay Highland Brew Coffee Project
The Baslay Highland Breew Coffee project is part of the Baslay Farmers Association.
Worldwide, coffee growers are considered among the most exploited as they receive only a small portion of the money we spend on coffee.
The Baslay project is one of those projects aimed at changing this and improve the lives of these highland farmers.
The farmers used to run environmentally unfriendly slash-and-burn practices but have since switched more environmentally friendly way of farming.
In this cooperative, the coffee sees a full cycle – from planting and harvesting to roasting and grinding. So, this shade grown coffee can be described as single-origine coffee.
The farmers also grow other plants, such as fruits, to keep them going.
The farm has built a mini three-floor bamboo lookout and resting site. And I saw a group of farmers busy cleaning the raw coffee beans.
The plantation site also hosts a three-floored wooden lookout and resting site. As the name indicates, we could enjoy our coffee and snacks seated or just walk around enjoying a 360 view of the area.