With today’s humdrum, in a city that was meant to be a home to only 30,000 people, having a solace with the simplicity of good music, art, poetry, books, comfort food, and of course, awesome people to talk with over cups and cups of coffee, is something that is definitely for keeps. And although Cafe Yagam in Baguio is one of the best places where lovers of the java have the pleasure of choosing how this elixir is to be prepared, there is seriously so much more going on in this coffee house other than its coffee beans and its rotisserie.
Café Yagam’s overall visionary, Ms. Poleen Carla Rosito, including the other creative minds of heart who started all this with her, did this one right for sure.
4 Things You Probably didn’t Know about Café Yagam
In the year 2014, Ms. Carla opened the café and named it after her daughter, “Yagam.” As we listened to her talk about Café Yagam more, we began to understand how and why this is the place to experience Cordillera in its purest sense. The reasons go beyond Café Yagam being a coffee shop that serves “good coffee.” Here are four reasons why Café Yagam is the place to be for culture and art.
1. Café Yagam is a home for Musicians as well as Literary, Visual and Performance Artists
Igan initially said that he stayed in Café Yagam because of the coffee. And, because of the coffee, you begin to love all the other things in the cafe. “The owner may not know this, but all of the people who come here know this – this is our house,” Igan went on saying. “It is a place where we feel special without them doing anything or trying too hard and it is all because we are part of the family.” As a musician for many years in the City, he feels that Café Yagam brings the Baguio cafés of old back to life. He says from then until now, “Baguio is a small place and everyone knows everybody. Just say the right thing, and there you have it!” So, “if you want to experience Baguio,” he says, “go to Yagam. This is how we did it 20 years ago.”
If he were to write a song for Café Yagam, he said he would entitle it “Mother’s Hand.” This is because the cafe is an epitome of Café Yagam as Ms. Carla’s child. In reality, Yagam really is Ms. Carla’s daughter and so is the the cafe, so to speak. “You nurture your coffee like your daughter,” Igan explains simply. Cafe Yagam is in the works at bringing back the Acoustic Nights that is greatly missed. Yagam’s stage will once again welcome local musicians who write and play music out of sheer delight and passion, most specially as a means of artistic expression. Given its significance, without Café Yagam things would be melancholic, Igan honestly expresses – “Wala na kaming tambayan.” (We would not have a place to hang out anymore)/
Jessica Faye Marino, creative writer and performance poet, also calls Café Yagam her home. When we asked her what three words she would include in a poem she’d write for Café Yagam, she said these would be “firewood, smoke, and Tapuy.” To her, the place is a classic Baguio cafe, both warm and amazing. How homey it feels is perfect for the poetry events she takes part in. She is most appreciative of how open the place is and how “very game” Café Yagam is in accommodating artists like her and those of Ubbog, specially when it comes to the craft they are passionate about.
Faye found out about Café Yagam through her friend Rocky Cajigan, who is a mixed media artist. Rocky was part of Yagam’s inception process, she recalls. He did the Café’s interior design and was instrumental in telling other artists and poets about how much creative Café Yagam’s space is and what it can be. This was exactly what she and other creative writers needed to expand the poetry reading and spoken word events in the City. True enough, in 2015, Café Yagam was the venue for the gathering of literary enthusiasts and artists during the International Poetry Day. How real the “Ka-illian” attitude of the community of Baguio is in Cafe Yagam, is also something Faye particularly mentioned. With such creative brilliance in this place they call home, it is most honorable that Café Yagam is the much-needed haven of the City’s and region’s literary artists.
2. Café Yagam was born out of its partnership with the Cordillera Green Network
As a performer, an anthropoligist and environmental advocate, Ms. Carla’s work and projects with Cordillera Green Network is one of the reasons why the cafe opened. It was a way for her to celebrate the rich heritage and local culture. CGN is an environmental NGO that was pioneered in 2001 through Ms. Mariko Sorimachi. Its mission is to have a totally empowered community enjoying the abundance of nature by helping to transform communities in the Cordillera into models of sustainable natural resource management. Its environmental advocacy is focused on the protection and preservation of the environment through seminars, workshops, symposia, print and electronic media, and most of all through visual and performing arts. CGN also has its own printing press that publishes literature from the communities of all over the Cordilleras. The stories of the locals are written and published to preserve this cherished culture. Some of the stories were illustrated by the town’s school children. Some of these were also turned into cultural plays performed in theaters. CGN’s advocacy also extends to agro-forestry (as further explained in #3), renewable energy, scholarships through the Green Scholar Initiative and of course, research and documentation.
3. Café Yagam Combines Coffee and Community Quite Meaningfully
Café Yagam was born out of the Agroforestry project of CGN, more specifically, its coffee projects. They have been promoting coffee as the alternative cash crop for local farmers to generate more income and alleviate poverty. What other way is there to boast of the fruits of the community’s labor other than putting up a coffee shop? This enterprising move has been most beneficial and meaningful.
If you order a cup of coffee here, they ask your preference of brew (paper drip of French press), roast (light, medium or dark), and strength (light, medium, or strong). It is one of the most important and personal experiences one can have with coffee. When the cup of coffee is served, they normally would not not include the complimentary cream or milk. You need to ask for it. According to Ms. Carla, this is because the distinct taste of coffee, as it was meant to be enjoyed, will just fade into the whateverness added. So yes, coffee here is to be enjoyed simply with mascovado sugar or none at all, just black. Having it plain and simple is the best way to enjoy coffee’s many flavor notes, whether it be fruity, floral, sweet, nutty, or whether it be spiced. Knowing this for a fact will totally change anyone’s coffee experience, let alone how coffee is perceived. (That is IF one calls himself a true lover of The Brew.)
Coffee cupping sessions are held regularly in the shop. This is a professional practice of observing the aromas and tastes of brewed coffee. (So, you know, if you consider yourself a serious coffee drinker, this should be in your to-do and to-be list, got it?). Japan’s expert in Coffee, Hirofumi Yamamoto, facilitates these sessions that surely takes any coffee enthusiast’s love for coffee notches higher. The next time Cafe Yagam posts an announcement of a coffee cupping session, be sure to reserve your slot. In Cafe Yagam’s own words. this is the perfect way to “take your love for coffee to the next level” and to “learn the science and art behind coffee brewing, coffee tasting and overall coffee appreciation.”
Cafe Yagam serves Iced Coffee, Cafe Ole, Espresso, and Cafe Latte. They also do serve Spirited Coffee that includes Irish Coffee (medium roast coffee with whisky), Cafe Royale (medium roast coffee with brandy), and Baileys Coffee (medium roast with some Baileys Irish Cream mix). Tea is readily available, too. They offer Japanese Brew Tea, Lemon Grass Tea, and Citrus Tea which is a fusion of lemon and calamansi.) Of course, Yagam has not forgotten the Cocoa lovers. They serve Cocoa, Cocoa with Baileys, and Cocoa with Milk, an all-time fave.
4. For Cordillerans, Café Yagam is a place to escape, to go back to the “Ili in the City.”