Toby’s Estate Coffee : Australia’s 3rd Wave Comes to Manila

Toby’s Estate Coffee is the first International 3rd wave coffee shop that opened in the Philippines. The company was started by Toby Smith in Australia in 2011. They currently have branches in Australia, New York, Singapore and now the Philippines. The Salcedo branch is the 2nd one to open after the small coffee bar in Century City Mall.

The store is very inviting with a big storefront with wall to ceiling glass so you can see everything that is happening inside. There are also lots of street parking in front and across the store.

There are many seating options but the dominant one is the communal table in the middle.

They sell some of their fresh coffee beans (supplied by Singapore). They also have some merchandise available but not to the extent of the commercial coffee shops.

White Subway tiles frame the open kitchen along with 4 different clocks representing Toby’s Estate Coffee branches around the world plus one for their farm in Panama.

I started with their popular Gibraltar (P130), an off menu item that is serve in a Gibraltar glass. It has a strong espresso shot with a little bit of milk. You can see the beautiful and thick layer on top.

My next drink was a Latte (P140) which also featured a nice and thick layer of art (I think it’s a swan).

I thought I was going to be in for sleepless night with my two cups of strong Toby’s Estate Coffee but little did I know that I would be joining my first cupping session. A cupping session is an activity where one gets to try different beans brewed the same way, this time around it was Chemex.

Toby’s Estate master roaster Salvador was on hand to explain what exactly goes on in a cupping session. The goal is first to smell the aroma of each cup before seeking to differentiate each cup. When tasting the coffee, you can either drink it or spit it out in a cup like they do for wine. It’s pretty hard but I learned a lot and you can really notice the subtle differences that different beans produce as well as how the roasting levels influence both the taste as well as the matching preparation method. My favorite cup was the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Konga medium roast, with its wonderful aroma plus nice fruity hints.

I not only got to participate in my first cupping session, I also got to meet Toby Smith, the founder, who was in Manila for a couple of days.

While taking photos, a barista asked me to try their their Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Konga cold brew. It was delicious, tasted a bit like an iced tea with its bright flavors.

Here’s the Toby’s Estate barista team who took care of all our caffeine needs that night.

I was not able to try the food save for some sandwiches and a small serving of pasta plus Bucky’s pastries. I’ll definitely be back soon to try the food but so far I’ve been back to Toby’s Estate 4 more times for my latte fix and each time I’ve come away happy. I hear their slow bar will be operational soon so there will be more to love at Toby’s Estate Coffee.