Breaking brew

The first thing we asked Miguel Santiago was if he ever used his coffee-making skills to flirt with girls. “No, I have a girlfriend,” he said. “But I’ve managed to make my girlfriend appreciate coffee. She’s starting to like it.” Miguel Santiago, 20, has made a name for himself as that guy who makes coffee for his schoolmates in Ateneo. He’s a junior in college taking up communications technology management. With his small wooden case containing his coffee equipment, he makes fresh, made-to-order coffee for anyone who wants one. We visit the last place we’d expect to get great coffee — Ateneo de Manila University — to learn more about Miguel’s passion and yes, have some of the best coffee we’ve ever had.

YOUNG STAR: So do you remember the first time you had coffee?

MIGUEL SANTIAGO: The first time I had coffee was when I was around seven years old. I remember envying my parents for getting to drink coffee because the smell of coffee in the morning was just so good. I remember always begging them to let me have even just a sip.

Did you like the taste of coffee then?

Well, my parents would usually have regular coffee, but since I was still pretty young, they always gave me instant coffee, and always decaf. I hated it so much. It was always disappointing because the coffee would be so hot, dark and bitter. It didn’t discourage me from liking coffee though. It just made me a lot more curious.

When did you start making coffee?

I started making coffee when I was around 13 but only got into the whole specialty thing earlier this year. I took a class in the P.B.C.A. (Philippine Barista and Coffee Academy) first then went to a Craft Coffee Workshop and took a specialized barista class there. I ended up working there as a trainee. I guess it was really just my curiosity that pushed me to take the classes. I wanted to know what coffee had in store for me.

You said you started at the age of 13 but how long did it take you to “master” the art of making coffee?

Well, I’m still in the process of mastering the art. Everything I know now is a product of every single day I spent playing around with brewers and experimenting with different kinds of beans over the past few months. I have a long way to go but I’m getting better at it with each day.

You make and “sell” coffee to your schoolmates in Ateneo. How’d that come about?

I was putting an on-the-go coffee kit together to keep in my car. I started lugging it around in my backpack. I’d make a cup or two in the cafeteria every now and then. Usually just for me. After a while, I felt like I could do more with it so I started asking my friends if I could brew some up for them in exchange for small donations. It later became my advocacy to raise awareness for specialty coffee in the Philippines. I kind of want to show that coffee can be more than just brown sugary water.

You’re very lax about the “small donations” part. You mentioned that someone was willing to give you packets of ketchup as payment once. What was the weirdest “payment” you got for making someone coffee?

I wish I could say something like bacon or stuffed animals but no, I’ve only ever gotten money for making people coffee. That ketchup was a first though.

Is it difficult to learn making coffee? Or should we just keep asking you to make us a cup?

Making coffee is actually very easy to learn on a basic level, but like anything else, it takes a while to actually understand all the technical things that go into it. You’ll get what you need to know within a few months. I know I did.

Since not everyone can get a cup of coffee from you, where would you recommend people to get their Co.Co.L. on?

The most notable coffee shops for me are Magnum Opus in Parañaque, Kuppa in the Fort, Craft Coffee Revolution in New Manila, and of course, The Curator in Legazpi Village. You’ll catch me taking shifts there every Friday and Saturday.

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Follow Miguel on Twitter and on Instagram: @migs 720.

Coffee do’s and don’ts

We asked Miguel to give us some tips for the grind.

For the Do’s:

• Keep your coffee in a cool, dark place and only grind as needed. This will maintain freshness in your coffee.

• Buy a good grinder than can easily be calibrated. A nice, consistent grind is necessary to make a great cup of coffee. Baratza grinders are great starting points.

• It may sound really geeky but buy a scale and a thermometer. Get the measurements right. I would usually brew my coffee at a ratio of 1g: 16ml at a temperature of 91-95 degrees Celsius. Anything hotter will burn the coffee, making it very bitter.

For the Don’ts:

• Pre-grind coffee. Grinding it too early will cause the beans to stale faster.

• Boil your coffee. As I said, water that’s too hot will burn the hell out of your coffee, leaving you with a really black, bitter cup.