Pinoy coffee salesman aims to conquer overseas markets

MANILA, Philippines - Decades before Filipinos developed a taste for exotic brews offered by today's popular coffee shops, Filipino homes were already filled with the aroma of the local barako brew. 

Guests were often offered a cup of the local favorite at any time of the day.  As the coffee flowed, so did the conversation. 

Such is the Philippines' traditional coffee culture. This is part of what Filipino coffee expert and global coffee entrepreneur Silvester Dan “Sly” Sibal Samonte intends to share to the world. 

Sly earned his BA Liberal Arts with a Specialization in Integrated Marketing from the University of Asia and the Pacific.  His family (father – Danee G. Samonte who owns and manages Steve O’Neal Productions, his mom – Penny Sibal who manages the family owned Phoenix Publishing, and siblings Sarah and Silvia) is fully supporting him in his advocacy.    

“My vision is to put the Philippines’ specialty coffee scene on the world map,” he enthused. 

Just like a traditional salesman, Sly is equipped to serve a taste of the Philippines in his suitcase.  He said he brings local coffee beans and moka pots in all his travels. 

Apart from sharing the local brew, the coffee expert is also in search of the best coffee experience nationwide and in the world.  

But Sly did not start as a Filipino coffee aficionado. He worked for Unilever Singapore at the time the coffee scene in the Southeast Asian city state was just kicking off. 

The coffee scene in Singapore was characterized by coffee shops such as Papa Palheta, Highlander Coffee and Jimmy Monkey sprouting in various corners around the city. 

"Espresso was my first love. I have my espresso machine and small roaster when I left my job at Unilever in Singapore to plant coffee roots back in Manila," he shared. 

 When he returned home, Sly set up pop up coffee bars. His vision remained alive, however, so he opened the first coffee workshop in the Philippines.

"Craft Coffee Workshop is a unique place where baristas worked with a coffee roaster to maximize the flavors in coffee.  When it was at its peak we'd almost have a line going out the door of our little shop in the middle of nowhere," he recalled. 

During his stint as coffee director and roaster at Craft Coffee Workshop, he developed some great espressos together with baristas who are now reaping rewards and awards from the international community. 

 Origin, a step forward

Sly literally started 2015 with coffee. He went to a coffee growers competition in Sagada, Mountain Province, and there realized that this year is "very promising for specialty coffee growers and coffee bar owners as many new stores will open and increase availability of well crafted specialty coffees in new retail locations." 

The experience is Sagada, where Sly gave a lecture to locals about the art of coffee tasting, gave him the idea of enabling ordinary people "to develop and make high quality coffee." 

"It's my dream to be able to work with more farmers on projects that keep pushing the quality of Philippine Arabica and Robusta," he said.

 Thus, with his vision clear and his mission set, Sly ventured this year to start Origin Coffee Network. 

 "Origin Coffee Network is about origins, developers, and the platform,” he said, referring to the last one as simply a physical and virtual space where people come together, communicate, exchange information, and create better coffee together.

 Origin is curating coffee selections and is offering a green concierge service.  

"With these two products we believe we can take the first steps to calibrating with people and the developers at Origin. We will help to find more unique coffees that suit their development style and customer palates," he stressed.

Email Sly Samonte at [email protected] for inquiries.