Pinoy Coffee Tickle is about great days because of coffee, excellent coffee and of course unbiased reviews of coffee around the Philippines. Since we, Pinoy Coffee Tickle, are based in Manila and have no budget yet to go around the country, I decided to search for Pinoy blogs that feature coffee in it. I came across Davaofoodtrip, where two foodtrippers, Charles and Tere, try out different restaurants in Davao City.

Their stop at Coffee For Peace caught my attention since I've never encountered the word Peace added to a restaurant or a coffee shop's name before. A little catchy huh? Anyway, I started reading their blog and they explained why its name was like that. According to Ging Navarro Descallar, Coffee For Peace's Franchising Operations Manager:

We are into coffee trading and Coffee for Peace is a venue where they invite people to talk about their cause - to bring and promote PEACE in Mindanao especially between the rebels and government soldiers inviting them to put down their guns and have a peaceful talk over a cup of coffee so that is why it is Coffee For Peace.

What a great idea! I have never been to Davao but one thing's for sure and that is when I go there I would want to visit this place. Putting up a business/coffee shop for that reason will help you succeed and push further even in hard times. If your main purpose is to just earn money then you won't succeed as much compared with having a "social" reason. They have their cause. They have their reasons. And it is for Peace. Coffee for Peace everyone!

With regard to their coffee, all I know is that they use Arabica beans and Philippine Civet Coffee from the Cordilleras and Mindanao. We are starting to be known around the world for our Cordilleras' coffee and this is another great step for it. As for the taste of the coffee, I will leave it up to Davao Food Trip to be the judge. It seems that they tried a drink that won an award in 2007. Here is the link to their Coffee For Peace article.

Also check out Coffee For Peace's Site to learn more.

Thanks to Davao Food Trip for the Picture:)

Around three weeks ago I saw this new Coffee Shop called Coffee Overdose in Robinsons Galleria. It really caught my attention since I thought that its name sounded a little weird. I mean why would you want to call your shop Overdose? It just doesn't sound right from a marketing perspective. It just gives its shop a negative connotation. Then I thought that maybe they named it that way because coffee is a "legal drug." You know how drugs are, they can be addicting and when you take too much you become overdosed or something like that. Another is that maybe they just wanted people to get curious and just try it anyway. That time I was thinking too much and I just decided to try their coffee.

I asked the lady what their specialty was since I wanted to know more about the place. She said "the one with raspberry, sir." I didn't want to try that one since you don't get to taste the real coffee with all the fruity flavors (even if I was tempted) so I ended up trying their Coffee Latte and since I just came from the gym, an extra rum cake wouldn't be too bad right? I then asked her what beans do they use. All I got was "hindi po sa amin sinasabi, basta dito galing at masarap po siya (They don't tell us, but it comes from here (Philippines) and it just taste good)" So, I didn't bother to ask anymore since I don't think she would still be divulging any information.

While waiting for my order, I still kept wondering what's with the name. Good thing they had a sign that said something like "You know you had too much coffee when you don't get mad. You get steamed!" Funny line but I still think that it's negative for the consumers especially for those with family/friends who might agree with that and dissuade you from drinking another cup. Negative impact on your sales. Or am I just acting like some kind of marketing expert here?

Looking at the bright side and also to be fair to them I actually liked their latte. It had a certain kick to it and it was made just right. The taste wasn't too strong but it lacked a little of that aroma. Another good thing is that it really complemented the rum cake. Since the rum cake was already sweet, I decided to add just a teaspoon of brown (mascovado) sugar to it.

I was very happy with my coffee as it was done the way I like it. But for its name, sorry but it was too much for me to handle. Another thing is that they tried to put small couches in the area but that did not help the ambiance but when it came to the coffee, there was no overdose, it was coffee made just right.

What do you think of their name? Coffee?