Good news for those missing trips abroad due to the pandemic: HISBEANS Coffee has brought South Korea to the Philippines with their newly opened branch on Timog Avenue, Quezon City.
On 30 July, the cafe franchise that has 20 locations in South Korea opened its first branch in the Philippines, which is also its first branch outside the land of K-drama. Much like their South Korea branches, the coffee shop serves premium coffee and employs persons with disabilities (PWDs) at their Quezon City location.
Baristas at HISBEANS Coffee
Image credit: @marionalquiza
HISBEANS Coffee’s goal is to include PWDs in society and pave the way for their financial stability. For over a decade, the cafe franchise has primarily employed disabled individuals. Today, it has 70 PWD staff across all of its locations in South Korea and the Philippines.
Not only do they hire PWDs, but the cafe franchise also trains them at the HISBEANS Barista Academy to become professional baristas. Besides barista lessons, the staff also take food and beverage classes in order to become coffee specialists.
As part of their training, the cafe’s staff in the Philippines started working at Dunamai Cafe – a cafe by PWD, Inc. with disabled staff that is also in Quezon City – in 2018.
The staff after completing their pre-employment training at Dunamai Cafe
Image credit: @hisbeans.philippines
The HISBEANS Barista Academy isn’t exclusive to PWDs who wish to work at their coffee shop. All coffee lovers can also enroll in classes at the coffee school.
Their classes will allow you to refine your taste in coffee and teach you how to brew your own specialty coffee at home. If you’d like, you can even get a barista certification.
One of the cafe’s iced coffee offerings
Image credit: Karl Zeymour Cabading
HISBEANS Coffee makes drinks from only the finest coffee beans – in particular, those that have a cupping score of 80 or above in the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) ranking.
One of these is the rare Ethiopia Abaya Geisha that has a sophisticated taste and a bright, rich aroma that gets it the nickname “God in a cup”. It has berry undertones followed by a hint of caramel.
Another is the Kiambu Top Kenya which has a sweet-savory flavor with its combination of sour, fruity taste and floral scent. The Rwanda Inzovu, on the other hand, has a delicate and sweet vanilla taste.
The cafe will also offer drinks made from Arabica beans which are more accessible and widely known in the Philippines.
To extract the best taste from these premium coffee beans, HISBEANS Coffee uses different brewing methods using a variety of equipment.
HISBEANS Coffee’s industrial minimalist interior
Image credit: @hisbeans.philippines
Of course, the Korean cafe franchise has the Korean cafe aesthetic nailed with its spacious industrial minimalist interior with white and wooden furniture. The cafe’s products and equipment are displayed neatly on hanging shelves.
There’re also cozy lighting and neon signs, including one with their slogan “We love people through coffee” on their feature wall, making the coffee shop the perfect backdrop for your next Instagram post.
The coffee shop’s bar area where their products are also displayed
Image credit: @hisbeans.philippines
The cafe even has a bar area where you can watch your specialty coffee being made so you can fully enjoy the premium cafe experience.
The pandemic has certainly put many of our travel plans on hold. Thankfully, with HISBEANS Coffee, coffee-lovers can now have a South Korean cafe experience at one of the food hubs in Quezon City.
To stay updated on when the Korean cafe is open, you can follow them on Facebook or Instagram.
Address: 116, Timog Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila
Opening hours: 11.30AM-8PM, Daily
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Cover image adapted from: @hisbeans.philippines and Karl Zeymour Cabading
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