These syrups make full use of coffee byproducts from PH | ABS-CBN

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These syrups make full use of coffee byproducts from PH

Jeeves de Veyra

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Proud Liberica syrups. Jeeves de Veyra
Proud Liberica syrups. Jeeves de Veyra

MANILA -- Proud Liberica, a collection of syrups from the byproducts of the LIberica coffee tree launched by Japanese real estate company LIFULL, is now available in the Philippines.

The syrups were developed as part of the company’s LIFULL Table Earth Cuisine campaign which aims to solve social issues through food. The initiative studies organic materials not normally used in the kitchen such as dead forest wood, bamboo and cacao husks and extend their use as ingredients.

For the latest iteration, LIFULL approached 2014 World Barista champion Hidenori Izaki about the future of coffee. Izaki then thought of his protégé, Michael Harris Conlin, CEO of Henry & Sons Coffee. Izaki was Conlin’s coach when he reached the round of 16 during the Boston World Barista Championships back in 2019 using Arabica from Itogon, Benguet in his competition routine.

MIchael Harris Conlin and Hide Izaki. Jeeves de Veyra
MIchael Harris Conlin and Hide Izaki. Jeeves de Veyra

Coffee farmers usually just make money from coffee cherries harvested once a year. Throughout the rest of the year, the farmers have to prune the trees to keep them healthy. The harvest and the pruning processes produce a lot of byproducts like the outer skin of the coffee cherries (cascara), flowers, leaves, and wood that are just thrown away.

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Izaki and Conlin used Liberica from Santa Maria, Laguna for this pilot.

The collaborators saw this as an opportunity to maximize the earning capacity of the farmers. Through extensive research and development, they’ve found ways to extract the essence of these byproducts into syrups.

At the Liberica farm in Laguna. Jeeves de Veyra
At the Liberica farm in Laguna. Jeeves de Veyra

“Coffee does not have to be a black liquid.,” said Izaki also referring to the opaqueness of the entire coffee supply chain where the farmer earns the least. "With Pure Liberica, the processes, the costs, and even how much farmers earn from each bottle are all transparent, just like the syrups."

After six months of development and getting FDA approvals, Proud Liberica was launched in Japan with the syrups manufactured and packaged here in the Philippines by Conlins and his team, while Izaki develops recipes using the syrups for the Japanese market.

Proud Liberica comes in four types of syrups, each coming from different parts of the coffee tree.

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WOOD was smoked from the excess bark and captured into syrup. Think of a peaty whisky without the alcohol content and this is what you get. This can be used as liquid smoke for roasting meats. LEAF was boiled and extracted from the pruned leaves and tastes like roasted Oolong tea. This can be used for drinks and cocktails.

Conlins noted that the CASCARA and FLOWER syrups are more expensive because the farmers are paid more for these raw materials than the coffee beans. FLOWER tastes like sweetened jasmine tea and can also be used for cocktails and drinks. The CASCARA syrup can be used with carbonated water to make soda.

After this pilot project, the collaborators are now looking into expanding the reach of the project and the possibility of using these processes for other fruit bearing trees.

Proud Liberica syrups are locally available at thevault.ph.

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