Coffee, tea, gelato or Caffe Ti Amo?

MANILA, Philippines - Gelato and me — we just gel together. I just melt at the sight of this so-hard-to-resist soft, rich ice cream. On the other hand, a lot of my friends are coffee hounds who can’t live without a caffeine fix to start and end their day. Me, I haven’t drank coffee in a million years and I don’t miss it at all. So, when we go out, we usually end a meal hopping from a coffee shop to a gelato place. But now, we just have to go to one place: The newly opened Caffe Ti-amo in Greenbelt 5, Makati.

Oh, yes, at Caffe Ti-amo, you can have your coffee and eat your gelato, too. It’s a perfect marriage (if there’s such a thing) of coffee and gelato. For starters, I toss some nuts into a cup, pour hot espresso on top of it, and enjoy my gelato drowned in espresso!

A Brew-By-Brew Account

And surprise, surprise! Caffe Ti-amo is a Jollibee Food Corporation product. “JFC is about giving delicious food to everybody, spreading the joy of eating to everyone, and we feel café has a huge opportunity for differentiation because today, most of the coffee shops are the same,” Dondi Gomez, marketing head of Jollibee Foods Corp., gives a brew-by-brew account of Caffe Ti-amo’s history. “So we said, ‘Why don’t we offer something that is really unique? And when we found Caffe Ti-amo, which combined the delicious coolness and joy of ice cream or gelato and hot premium espresso and coffee, we felt that really rejuvenated the coffee industry to allow coffee lovers a different kind of experience so that they can reconnect better with themselves and those they care for in this environment. But more than competing with the others, it’s really about giving coffee and dessert lovers an alternative that is not the usual. And one that is affordable. Our cheapest coffee costs P75 — it’s cheap in price but not in terms of luxury, because we make sure every coffee served at Ti-amo comes from the finest coffee beans from around the world.”

Spilling The Beans

Spilling the beans further, Dondi says that a panel of R&D experts sat down and, perhaps over cups and cups and cups of ice cream and gelato, came up with scores of coffee and gelato concoctions as well as savory waffles that are proudly Pinoy creations. The “eureka” panel was led by JFC president/CEO Tony Tan Caktiong, Ti-amo president Pamela Tan, and Dondi. Yes, they’re all coffee and/or gelato lovers. Dondi confesses he’s both.

 “Product development took all of six months because the beans come from Korea,” says Dondi. “The beans are roasted in Korea, but they come from seven countries around the world.”

Coffee/gelato break: Jollibee Foundation president Grace Tan and SM Investments Corp. vice chairman Tessie Sy-Coson

Ti-amo is a Korean franchise with more than 200 outlets in Korea.

Coffee/gelato break: Jollibee Foundation president Grace Tan and SM Investments Corp. vice chairman Tessie Sy-Coson

And you don’t have to pay extra for the ambience. “If you look around you, we really try to make it cozy and give you the feeling of the outdoors indoors, thus the brick walls, an in-house tree, and the Do Anything area, where you can do anything you want,” Dondi describes.

Yes, in this little nook that measures seven square meters big (or should we say small), you can do anything — as long as it’s legal and as long as you order food. Picture a little corner where you and your barkada or family can share eternal bonding moments over endless gelato and coffee.

So, how’s the coffee at Caffe Ti-amo? Based on initial feedback, customers say that Ti-amo is at par with, if not better than, the leading coffee products on the market today.

And more sweet tidings: “The gelatos are 90-percent fat-free and we use only the finest Italian ingredients,” says Lily Chan, Caffe Ti-amo general manager. “We have fruit-flavored gelatos, like blueberry, orange, and piñacolada. And we

In this corner: Manny Pacquiao with a knock-out serving of Caffe Ti Amo’s premium coffee and Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) chairman and CEO Tony Tan Caktiong

have one gelato flavor which has no dairy in it; it is rice-flavored and good for vegans because it has no milk, no cream.”

Other than the tons of coffee or gelato, what would make you stay longer at Caffe Ti-amo?

“Something savory,” goes Lily’s instant reply. “Sweet is for dessert or to end a meal, but if there’s something savory, it’s like a cool meal. In the future, we will be offering sandwiches, something meaty and protein-rich for the macho men.”

A Hundred And One Reasons To Love Ti-Amo

But for now, there are a hundred and one ways to enjoy your coffee and gelato at Caffe Ti-amo. Let me count the ways:

• Coffee and espresso — premium blends from around the world — available in poco (short), alto (tall), and grande (large) servings. A latte (rich espresso with steamed milk) costs P79 for a poco order.

• Caffelato frappe — ice-blended coffee and gelato frappe that’s got two variants: coffee-based and coffee-free.

• Gelato specials — world-famous gelato creations that include affogato (vanilla or tiramisu drowned in espresso), waffle gelato (golden waffle topped with gelato and fresh fruits), honeybread gelato (honey-toasted, butter-soaked bread with vanilla gelato).

• Signature chocolate — Ti-amo’s hot chocolate made of Ghirardelli chocolate, steamed milk, and foam.

• Golden brown waffles with flavorful fillings like the savory waffles (Italian herb or four cheese).

• Yes, tea blends, too, served hot or cold.

Now you know people are falling in love with Caffe Ti-amo.