Hippieness is a warm mug

MANILA, Philippines - And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.

As if we rode a Merry Prankster Volkswagen, going past cross-town traffic, and turned up sometime in the Sixties, showing up here — psychedelic graffiti, a gaggle of trinkets and buttons and headbands, Woodstock getup and all — at Bonifacio Global City for the launch of Seattle’s Best Coffee’s (SBC) holiday-inspired drinks and the Dream Journal.

These voodoo children dream in purple, yes, and extremely hazy all over. Just as guitar legend Jimi Hendrix did, and he blew everyone’s mind when he played The Star-Spangled Banner at Max Yasgur’s farm. Wait, Jimi hailed from Seattle, and… oh….

Seattle’s Best is bringing back two popular holiday coffee concoctions and introducing two new exciting ones, according to SBC general manager Rea Enrica Cruz. Pray tell us, Rea, why the “Hippie Holiday” theme for the event?

“This is what differentiates us from other food retailers,” Cruz explains. “We’re passionate about our coffee but we try our best to have fun at the same time.” She has a point. A factoid: hippies just wanna have fun. 

There is a “hippie-fy” booth, she points out, where guests can get their hippie accessories. Magic brownies are also being served — but not the kind that’s consumed by Jefferson Airplane or the Grateful Dead.

“They’re magical because they taste good (laughs),” says Cruz.

She adds that SBC doesn’t just get coffee concoction recipes directly from the States and serve them here to Filipino coffee-drinkers. “We feel that the taste profile of Filipinos is unique, and so we don’t want to impose drinks we ourselves don’t like.”

Others may be popular, but Cruz says, “We pride ourselves on being personal.”

So, whatever you sip in their coffee shops, rest easy: these are tried-and-tested coffee creations. These babies have passed with flying colors — chocolate umber, caramel sienna, etc.

“We have a passion for coffee,” Cruz explains the DNA of the brand. “And we want to have fun with it. We’re not preachy about it, or too serious. We don’t say, ‘Oh, we’re the coffee experts and we know everything about coffee.’ Not at all. We want our coffee to be (associated with anything) gourmet — and yet simple and accessible.”

Teach your children

A nugget right here: For every purchase of Seattle’s Best Coffee yuletide drink, customers also get a chance to help a World Vision child. A percentage of the proceeds from purchasing a drink will go to the organization.

And then there’s the Dream Journal. It comes in five happenin’ colors — red, blue, yellow, purple and brown. SBC adds a personal touch to the SBC Dream Journal by providing a free engraving service for the guests to customize their journals and make it truly theirs. This is what sets it apart from any other journal.

With monthly calendars and generous writing pages, every journal comes with interactive monthly pages and visuals. It comes with free seven drinks, two pastries, a panini, and 24 hours free Wi-Fi. As with last year, part of the proceeds will be donated to World Vision to benefit its children’s educational program.

Seattle’s Best customers need to collect 18 stickers on their SBC Dream Card during the promotional period to get this planner for free. One sticker will be given for every SBC drink bought (excluding bottled drinks). Guests need to purchase 10 regular SBC drinks and eight holiday drinks to qualify for the journal. The SBC Dream Card will be available from until Jan. 15, 2013 at all Seattle’s Best branches.

Hmmm… What to write in that journal? Maybe how you spent your Christmas vacation in the Summer of Love in your head.

Far out.

* * *

Seattle’s Best Coffee’s four holiday drinks and other beverages are available at Greenbelt 3, Bonifacio High Street, Valero Street, Makati Medical Center, SM Megamall, Cardinal Santos Hospital, Katipunan, TriNoma, SM Mall of Asia, Neo Plaza, Ongpin, NAIA Terminal 3, NAIA Domestic Passenger Terminal, Festival Mall, Greenhills Town Center, Taft Avenue, Market! Market!, One McKinley Place, Caltex SLEX, Ayala Center Cebu and Matalino Street.

For information, visit Seattle’s Best Coffee® Philippines online at www.seattlesbest.com.ph or www.facebook.com/SeattlesBestCoffeePhilippines.