If you drink your coffee like the coffee pros, then Hot Cat Specialty Coffee ought to be in your cafe-hopping itinerary in Baguio City. This cool and quirky java shop lets you in on the art of handmade coffee so you actually know what good coffee looks like, smells like, tastes like, and of course, feels like. Honestly, you never knew you could get a better cuppa just by looking over their coffee menu.
And mind you, having to try every single one of those blends whenever you badly need a coffee fix and some quality time with yourself is surely going to be more than satisfying and rewarding. Hot Cat is the first shop that opened in Baguio that highlights specialty coffee. So, if you haven’t tried ordering your coffee of the day here, it is about time you get you get to know more about this more-than-friendly neighborhood coffee house.
Hot Cat Specialty Coffee: Pour-Over Coffee Decoded
Sir Aly Young, his wife Ms. Len and Sir Aldrix opened Hot Cat Specialty Coffee in 2016 out of a sheer passion for coffee. They love it and naturally, they serve it. They also love cats, thus the name – “Hot Cat.” It is simple, really. We felt just how passionate they are about coffee as we watched Ms. Len prepare our cup of pour-over coffee. With words like “grind size,” “200-degree temperature,” “water mineral content,” “consistency of pouring,” and how specialty grade beans make it to just one cup of coffee, it is pretty awesome how easy it was for us to understand something so complicated!
There is an art and science for that perfect pour-over as Ms. Len demonstrated. You need to learn about the coffee before doing anything else. Being able to understand the flavor background of different coffee beans, as well as calibrating them is significant for that perfect cup of coffee. It is an absolute must to have specialty grade coffee. At Hot Cat, they serve local specialty grade coffee like those from Itogon, Atok, and other regions in the country. The cafe gets their beans from the roasters at El Union Coffee in San Juan, La Union and from Kalsada, nothing but the best of specialty coffee in the Philippines.
To make the best pour-over coffee, we began with choosing the Itogon blend. It was a medium roast, freshly roasted, and smells a bit winey that is rather also like honey. Ms. Len said that once you open a bag, it should not last for more than a month because the flavor becomes stale. At Hot Cat, they only grind coffee once an order is placed, assuring the best flavor. Once you have made your choice as to the beans, you now need to choose which water to use and the grind size of the beans. This is where calibration comes in.
Calibrating the beans allows you to choose the grind size and the flavor of espresso. The “flavor” you are going for fuses acidity, body, aroma, bitterness, sweetness, and aftertaste. You would need to keep fine-tuning the shots until you achieve that taste balance where there is no single flavor characteristic that is dominating or overwhelming compared to the other flavors. And since each bean has its own flavor background, calibrating your beans make you more appreciative of the various flavor descriptions of coffee, whether complex, rich, winey, fruity, nutty, chocolatey, and more.
The choice of water, as well, affects the coffee’s flavor profile. Ms. Len mentioned that choosing water involves choosing the mineral content that helps develop the flavor – “calculated minerals for absolute flavor.” Also, when it comes to water, the temperature is critical. You wouldn’t want to “burn” the minerals out from the water. When our pour-over was being prepared, Ms. Len was precise with bringing the water up to 200 degrees because this temperature matched the Itogon blend beans she used. You need patience, she says, to get the right temperature and to be consistent with pouring the water over the coffee. As she was swirling along, she said, “there is a science and a ceremony to it.” Watching water getting poured over the coffee has never been so therapeutic.
“You need everything balanced, not dry, and not floating,” referring to the freshly ground coffee on here wave dripper. You need to do the whole pour-over in three minutes. Three minutes is quite a long time,if you think about it. But doing so builds up the flavor of the coffee. The amazing thing is, the taste of coffee changes with the temperature. As the Itogon brew cools down, you get more of the fruity note. In addition, each type of dripper results in different flavors of the coffee. This may be because each dripper brings out a distinct flow of water, influencing the coffee flavor. Using a V60 will bring about a different taste compared to using a Kalita Wave. And, using different beans with each dripper also develops different flavors. So, you know, you’ll instantly feel like a coffee-know-it-all just by knowing and experiencing that change of flavor in just one cuppa.
Hot Cat Specialty Coffee: Comforting Cups and Cafe Food
Aside from the Itogon Blend Pour-Over, we enjoyed other great stuff from their menu. Hot Cat’s Sweet Cinnamon Latte (Php 130), for example, is delightful. If you like apple pie, cinnamon or nutmeg, this one is for you. You will feel warm and fuzzy all over after a sip or two. When she was making this, Ms. Len asked some questions like “Are you lactose intolerant?” and “How sweet do you want it?” She asks just because you have different kinds of coffee for different preferences of people.
Their Horchata (Php100) is a personal fave. It is a rice-based beverage that is refreshing whether hot or cold. Next up is their Spanish Latte (Php130). Their take on the Café con Leche is subtle like the Horchata but has that kick you need from the espresso shot and the comforting cookies-and-milk feel from the hot milk.
Hot Cat has other blends to enjoy like their Matcha Latte, Roibus Tea, Misutgaru, Espresso Tonic, Red Thai Milk Tea, and more. All their coffee blends can be enjoyed either hot or cold, so don’t hesitate to tell them.
We equally enjoyed Hot Cat’s pastries, perfect with coffee. The Lemon Fudge Bar’s (Php50) citrus taste was a great contrast to the brews we had. And the Whities (Php60) melts in your mouth, which is what every sweet tooth likes. Hot Cat also has other sweets and pastries like Fudge Brownies, Choco-Chip Blondies, and Smores Dip.
Hot Cat’s Grilled Four-Cheese Sandwich (Php120) is easily a go-to munchy to perk up your day. They have other sandwiches available like the Tuna Panini and the Tomato Cheese Pesto, perfect for brunch or an afternoon-ender.
Hot Cat Specialty Coffee serves seriously good coffee, taking pride in their utmost respect and support for the Philippine coffee growers who play a big role in the success of the coffee community in the city, the region, and the country as a whole. As coffee people, they are serious about upgrading the quality of local coffee beans to get graded as specialty coffee.
So every time you place an order, know that Hot Cat gives back what is due to the farmers and elevates the local coffee industry. Aside from that, Hot Cat also helps start-up coffee shops in teaching them the essentials about cafes, coffee and coffee-making. “We help out in our own little way,” Ms. Len expresses, because “it is never too late to do something you love.”
Hot Cat Specialty Coffee is currently located at the Old Orangewood Bed and Breakfast, 20 Gomez st., Lower P. Burgos, Baguio City.