After devouring generous servings of Cordilleran cuisine at the Farmer’s Daughter, Missy and I were craving for some coffee fix. “Plus, I needed to join our Christmas party for an hour via zoom”, Missy tells me. I figured the outdoor setting of this café I first saw on Instagram would be an ideal place to sit, sip and chill — and in Missy’s case, to “zoom”.
It turns out as I keep an eye on our taxi’s meter, the location of Farm to Cup DIY Brew Bar is already outside of Baguio City and is near the vicinity of the Strawberry farm in La Trinidad, Benguet. I was like “wish, we’d settle for a quiet café within the city”.
Upon arriving however, I immediately fancied the outdoor atmosphere since the café appears as nice as the pictures I saw online. Located inside Philippine Nazarene College, Farm to Cup DIY Brew Bar is set up beside an American-style bungalow behind a pop-up bar. Around a dozen tables and chairs were laid out on the spacious ground underneath towering pine trees overlooking a vast part of the city.
At that time there was a coffee brewing session being held near the coffee bar attended by a handful of people. The barista was teaching the basics of grinding a fresh coffee bean and how to properly brew it. I’m not a coffee expert but I’m familiar with that drill already so I went straight to order a café latte and a pancake.
I didn’t fancy the pancake that came with a watery red sauce, but the café late was okay — I regret not ordering a brewed coffee (I heard they serve it really good here and weeks later, fellow travel blogger Melo of Out of Town Blog, told me the BBQs are also good).
The biggest thing I dig about this outdoor café is its ambiance. As if you just stepped out of your mountain home and sat down for a nice cup of coffee plus you also got this wonderful view of the city — in a chilly environment surrounded by tall pine trees.
What’s not to like? In a city (Baguio) where coffee drinking is almost a religion and where countless café have their own Instagrammable appeal, Farm to Cup DIY Brew Bar more than hold its own, no thanks to their pancake, but for their coffee advocacy, good coffee, BBQs, and charming alfresco dining.
