It’s not often that’d you’d come across a small coffee shop here in this city that takes its coffee seriously enough to actually be more deserving of your attention than most of the larger and more ubiquitous coffee chains – coffee houses that most people usually flock to and associate with the term “great coffee”; I’m gonna tell you straight up: Origin Coffee is just that.

Origin Coffee sits in a quiet corner near the Makati Avenue side of Chino Roces, in Makati City. Though it’s just one block away from the main avenue, it’s rather easy to miss unless you’re really paying attention to the surroundings while passing by. That’s disadvantageous for both the cafe itself and the people who are missing what is perhaps one of the best cafes in town.

Let me further drive that point home with a short version of this review: Origin Coffee has incredible food and arguably the best espresso I have ever tasted, to date. It’s that good. In fact, you can skip reading this article if you want and go check it out now.

That’s just what me and a buddy of mine, Robert, did a few days ago. We dropped by the cafe for lunch,  sampled a handful of their beverages, and brought home some dessert for the kids at home to try out.

Feels Like Home

The cafe itself is very homey; the walls are uncomplicated and uncluttered, save for a few posters and drapes. Lighting is sparse but sufficient, and the seats and tables are cozy and comfortable. The interior isn’t quite like the the bright, hectic collage-style wall art of a Starbucks or the wooden-brown mien of a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf or a Bo’s Coffee Club; it’s more of a feel-at-home place with a black, raised ceiling, white walls, cool, yellow pin lights and some tastefully placed hanging lamps.

The setting that Origin Coffee provides is very conducive to having a relaxing cup of coffee by yourself or with your friends; in fact, it’s a better place to take a load off, moreso than any of the above mentioned coffee chains. Reading would be slightly more difficult, unless you’re sitting outside or next to a window, or you ask some of the baristas to turn on all the lights (for some reason, they don’t – I was sitting on the corner couch and had to ask them to turn on the light for that section so that I could write – it’s pretty dark like that when it’s gloomy outside, or when evening falls).

A Gastronomic Smörgåsbord

One of the things that sets Origin Coffee apart from other coffee shops and cafes is its menu offerings. Like I said at the outset, the food here is great. Robert and I sampled a couple of dishes, as well some of the cold smoothies and frappes afterward.

Okay, so, if you’re a first time visitor to the cafe, the first thing that’ll get to you is that there’s a lot of menu items to choose from. From hot and cold beverages to dishes, desserts, and viands, you could eat lunch and dinner here for a week and you’ll still prolly won’t be able to go through the entire menu.

Anyway, we got our food, and when it comes to presentation, nothing will really jump out at you or strike you as spectacular. Aesthetically, the dishes are simple and give off the impression of being unremarkable; that’s probably why we were surprised when we started eating – we didn’t expect much in terms of flavor and it turned out to be just the opposite!

For example, the Origin Pasta doesn’t look that special, but once you start with that first forkful of pasta with grilled chicken and peppers slathered in olive oil and herbs, I’m pretty sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised about how good it really is, despite how it looks. The savory flavor of the herbs and oil quite literally spreads out on your tongue and makes your mouth water as you chew!

Another of the dishes we sampled is the Chicken Cordon Bleu. this is from a set of dishes from which you can choose what kind of rice goes with the viand; Robert elected to go with the Filipino-style garlic rice. Once again, it looks like nothing special, but its appearance unjustly masks its incredible flavor. Every bite shoots a plethora of wonderful flavors throughout your tastebuds, from the crisp, breaded outer layer to the soft, juicy, meat wrapped within with delicious, hot melted cheese. I have tasted Chicken Cordon Bleu at more expensive establishments, but Origin Coffee’s tops them all.

For drinks, Robert and I sampled Origin’s Iced Chocolate and Cookies and Cream Smoothie, respectively. Both drinks were good, although I have to say that the flavor isn’t quite as cohesive as beverages of the same class from the bigger Coffee Chains. One thing we’ve noticed is that a certain syrupy sweetness is always the first and most pronounced flavor that presents itself in the drink. It doesn’t appear to mesh very well (or at least not completely) with the other ingredients so as to form a flavor that is more than just the sum of its parts. Still, that’s just a minor complaint. The smoothies and iced drinks are lusciously creamy, and give off a certain home-made feeling of goodness about them when you drink up.

The Coffee – A Splendid Shot of Espresso

Great food aside, this is the main reason one should check out Origin – the coffee. Origin Coffee offers dark-roasted Arabica beans from Malawi exclusively, and serves quite a handful of espresso-based beverages, along with some spiked coffee with a variety of alcoholic complements to choose from.

Origin Coffee’s finest drink is a shot of its pure, unadulterated espresso. The Malawian bean that Origin uses produces a wonderfully potent brew with bright acidity that has a caramelly sweetness about it to go along with a winey flavor, complemented by subtle, nut undertones, and finishes with an earthy flavor. This is a full-bodied coffee, and is very smooth and slick drinking experience; it’s just plain great! The flavor just spreads itself out on your tongue right from the beginning up until the finish, and leaves cleanly. In my book, Origin Coffee’s espresso pretty much beats most of the metro’s more popular coffee shop’s offerings. IMHO, If you’re a coffee enthusiast, you need to try this!

Origin Coffee’s americano (or long black, or espresso long, as other cafes may prefer to call it), on the other hand, is another story. Americanos will usually exhibit the same characteristics of the shot of espresso it contains, albeit to a subtler degree, and in some cases with a few minor changes in flavor; the cup served to me was near-tasteless, apparently quite watered-down. Too bad, really, since a cup of americano is often a pleasant experience that can give you a different side of the bean it’s brewed from… if made properly. So, I really can’t say anything about this one.

On that note, I decided to try some of the other espresso-based beverages, namely the Cappuccino and the Cafe Mocha. I wanted to see if the watered-down americano was just a fluke, or there was something else to it; because more often than not, the problem with unimpressive coffee is not with the bean or with the brew itself, but how it was prepared and made. On tasting the two cups served to me, that seemed to be the case.

The cappuccino and the cafe mocha were both significantly more flavorful than the americano, but they weren’t exactly the best I’ve tasted. Origin cafe’s cappuccino doesn’t quite have the richness one would expect of a cup of good cappuccino; as for the cafe mocha, it’s not bad, but it’s nothing special. It’s quite ironic, since Origin Coffee uses such a wonderful bean, yet beyond the pure shot of espresso, they falter in making the best of the said beverages based on the brew. That said, they’re alright; just not the best I’ve tasted.

A Seeming Lack of Confections

One thing I noticed while looking around inside the cafe is a seeming lack of confectionery; for those who have grown accustomed to dropping by a cafe just to have a morning or afternoon cup of coffee with say, a pastry or some other confection, it would seem that Origin Coffee is a bit ill-equipped to accommodate that. The shelves are quite bare.

I asked if they had any cakes or pastries available, and they said yes; on asking why it wasn’t displayed, I was met with a shrug as the cakes were brought out and placed onto the shelves. There were no pastries available at the moment. Anyway, we had a slice of the Blueberry Cheesecake and the Sansrival wrapped to take home to try with my sisters, and… the Blueberry Cheesecake tasted alright,  while the Sansrival tasted “like cardboard”, to quote my little sister.

I looked around for any brownies or cookies, but They only had those little 6-peso (about 14 cents) oatmeal raisin cookies; a Chips Ahoy! 2-Pack would give better bang for your buck when it comes to flavor. Okay, so confections, not one of Origin’s strongest suites.

What Could Be Better

Firstly, I’d sure like to know where the confections are! They’re on the menu, but they don’t seem to be readily available. It’d be a good idea to keep them on display to encourage consumption, so to speak.

The quality of the coffee bean they use is undisputed, but how they go about making their espresso-based beverages could perhaps warrant a once-over just to see if they can make it better.

I’m also wondering as to whether having that many options on the menu could be spreading Origin Coffee too thinly, in terms of the ability to keep everything fresh and of the best quality during preparations and upon serving. I think that could be one of the reasons why the espresso-based drinks aren’t as good as they could be. Sometimes having too many options can be more of a disadvantage than a boon.

One could ask, “if they’ve got these problems and such, why would you call this ‘one of the best coffee shops in the city’”? That’s easy - their problems can be easily remedied. The problem with lackluster espresso-based beverages (meaning the drinks are just “Okay”, but not good or bad) usually has to do with the kind of and correct proportion of the ingredients; such as say, the kind of milk and the correct proportion to be used with a shot of espresso, for example. You don’t need an overhaul, you just need to fine-tune things.The same can be said for the other problems. Other than these things, Origin is already doing a lot of things right.

In Conclusion

All minor complaints aside, Origin Coffee is an excellent place to drop by for a good meal or a good cup of coffee; they shouldn’t deter you at all from experience the good stuff Origin has to offer. The bottom line is that Origin Cafe offers great food and great coffee at great prices. This is one cafe that is very deserving of your attention.

Origin Coffee is located at the JAKA Center, 2111 Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City. For inquiries, you can send SMS messages to 0917-888-CAFE (that’s 0917-888-2233) or call 844-0550 for more information.