Lantapan, Bukidnon 72 hr anaerobic

On the forested slopes of Mount Kitanglad, at 1,200 m in Lantapan, Bukidnon, farmer Romulo Risaroni grows a variety you'll rarely find outside Ethiopia: an Ethiopian landrace known locally as "Sweet Coffee." Confirmed by World Coffee Research to trace to the heirloom coffee forests of coffee's birthplace, it's the same variety that carried Finca de Garces to the 2023 Philippine Coffee Quality Competition crown — and it cups much like Gesha: floral, balanced, sweet.

Its cherries were fermented anaerobically for 72 hours in sealed tanks, letting sugars concentrate and florals bloom: berry and tropical fruit over brown sugar and caramel, lifted by a floral finish. It scored 83.83 on the cupping table — comfortably specialty.

Romulo farms with the Bayanihan Millenium Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BMMPC), Indigenous smallholder farmers partnered with the Philippine Eagle Foundation to keep the Kitanglad forests thriving alongside their coffee.