The coffee prince

MANILA, Philippines - Toby’s Estate has created quite the buzz on social media, with personalities and discriminating tastes swearing by its “to die for” mochas and lattes. In this interview we get to talk to the man, Toby Smith himself, about how he discovered his passion for beans, and what exactly makes a good cup of coffee.

So your journey with coffee started when you quit your law profession and went to Brazil?

Toby Smith: Yes. I was working on a coffee plantation when I hooked up with a trader. That’s where I learned how to cup coffee, the art of tasting coffee, identifying the defects in coffee, selling Brazilian coffee. I discovered I had a bit of a palate. So then I stuck around there for about a year and then I came back to Australia. My father was like “what are you doing?” And now I’m a roaming coffee research kind of guy.

There are a lot of coffee lovers who think they’re coffee connoisseurs.  Tell us things we don’t know.

There are certain things people don’t like in coffee — minerals, acidity, acrid coffee — stuff that upsets the stomach. There’s a lot of commercial coffee that does that. They’re badly roasted, stale, flat, and don’t have a lot of flavor in them. Coffee is a fruit that comes with a lot of flavor. If you roast it in the right way, you unleash the flavor and potential. The parameter for freshness of roast coffee is 6-15 days.

The equipment you use is also important. A big reason why coffee doesn’t taste good is because the equipment is not clean. Espresso coffee boils and sticks to the equipment. It imparts the flavor.

How do you describe good coffee?

When you break down the flavors of coffee, obviously we talk about aromatics, the body and texture of the coffee, and the aftertaste. You want something that’s buttery, velvety, and blends with the palate.

What’s the normal tasting process?

You dip a spoon into a cup and slip it into your mouth, inhaling the aromatics and the flavor. Take the small cup and start to appreciate the qualities.

You score coffee over a hundred. It’s a tough competition throughout the world. There’s a panel that judges like 200 coffees. They break it down to those that score over 86, which make it to the top. The highest scoring and most expensive coffee is from Israel. They discovered a variety called Gesha.

How far around the world have you taken your work?

Two years ago, we opened up in Brooklyn, so we have a roastery café there. We also got one in Manhattan and looking to expand there. Obviously, our prime market is in Sydney, where we were first established.  Two years ago, we opened in Singapore. We have a warehouse where we supply other cafes in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Indonesia. We’re building relationships and expanding the brand. At the same time, we have to maintain a high standard and keep the experience the same.

Have you tried Filipino coffee? Will there be a chance for Filipino coffee being offered in your stores?

I would love to be able to do that. Well, I’ve still yet to discover the full range of Filipino coffee. I’ve tasted four different regional ones. As a project, I definitely want to do that and bring it to other parts of Asia and even Australia, as we did with Thailand.

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Toby's Estate has stores on Salcedo Street and  Century Mall in Makati. More coffee talk from twitter.com/officialTIMYAP. And on Instagram, too!