Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Instant Coffee debuts in the Philippines

Finally, the Starbucks VIA Ready Brew will be available in all Starbucks branches in the Philippines starting tomorrow, September 15. Earlier today, Rustans Coffee Corporation, led by its President and COO Noey Lopez, unveiled to media its newest product, the Starbucks VIA Ready Brew, Starbucks' latest instant coffee innovation that replicates the body and flavor of Starbucks coffee in an instant form.

Rustans Coffee Corporation President and Chief Operating Officer Mr. Noey Lopez, Starbucks Coffee Company Vice President for Marketing Ms. Samie Barr, Starbucks Coffee Company President for Asia Pacific Region Mr. Cos LaPorta, and Rustans Coffee Corporation CEO Eduardo Lopez, Jr. unveiling the newest Starbucks VIA Ready Brew at their 6750 Makati branch today.

After the unveiling of the newest Starbucks VIA Ready Brew, we were asked to take the Coffee Challenge. We were given two cups labeled A and B, and we had to determine which one had the VIA Ready Brew, and which one was freshly brewed. The answer was Cup B. You can see the oil from the freshly brewed coffee beans in Cup A, while the one with VIA Ready Brew doesn't have that. The taste and the smell, at first, was almost the same, but if you have very discriminate taste buds you would instantly know the difference. There is still difference in taste, and a little difference in the smell. Either way, I can say that this is the only instant coffee I have ever tasted which almost exactly tastes like brewed coffee, and hats off to that! :)


The Philippines is the third country in the world, outside North America, that will offer Starbucks VIA Ready Brew. It is made up of 100% natural roasted arabica coffee in an instant and micro ground form that is rich in flavor and aroma and full bodied just like a fresh-brewed cup of Starbucks coffee. Now, you can enjoy Starbucks coffee anytime anywhere!


Starbucks VIA Ready Brew (Italian Roast and Columbia) will be available at Php 130 for a pack of 3 and Php 450 for a box of 12, while Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Decaf Italian Roast will be available at Php 130 for a pack of 3 and Php 470 for a box of 12. Basically, a cup of coffee would cost you around 38-43 pesos.

Bobby Chinn and Vietnamese Coffee

My uncle Martin recently came home from Vietnam with a surprise for me - an autographed Bobby Chinn's Wild, Wild East: Recipes & Stories from Vietnam and a pack of Vietnamese coffee. He was telling me that he ate at the famous Restaurant Bobby Chinn and got to meet and chat the celebrity chef personally. How often can you do that? I didn't know that he will be bringing home something for me. Aw, thanks a lot!



I haven't opened the coffee yet, because it looks too complicated to brew, and I recently don't have time anymore to cook and do stuff. But right now, I was researching on how to do it, and I find it quite easy and fun to do.



In the Philippines, coffee started in Batangas at around 1740s, and it came to a point that the Philippines became the fourth largest exporter of coffee beans, and later commanded the coffee industry worldwide. "Today, the Philippines produces more of less 30,000 metric tons of coffee a year."









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