THE MOST EXPENSIVE COFFEE IN THE WORLD, MERON DIN DATI SA IBAAN.

[Myrna Acebo Malabuyoc]

The most expensive coffee in the world, can also be found in Ibaan before. It was only year 2007 when I learned that the most expensive coffee in the world is made from beans passed through the digestive system of monkeys, but it is more like a cat than a monkey. ALAMID , yan ang tawag ng tatay ko.
ALAMID was a wild animal from a cat family bigger than cat and much smaller than a tiger.
To prove that, during my childhood, it was an ordinary dawn, every harvest season of ripen coffee bean, we used to wake up by nanay and mamay to prepare for a 4 miles walk to KAPIHAN (a coffee plantation inside the forest of MUNTING TUBIG beside MATALA RIVER) to gather those coffee beans from ALAMID dung.
Pagkalagok namin ng mainit na kape, sa punggal na tasa ( walang tangkay) yagyag na kami at baka maunahan ng ibang manlilimot ng kape. Bitbit namin ang lata ng pinya ( empty can of pineapple, wala pang supot noon) saka ang tibunglos na ilawang kawayan. ( light made from bamboo). Kinakapa at kinakalkal namin ang tuyong dahon ng kape, actually minsan nasa ilalim ito ng damo, at nakapagtataka walang amoy ito kahit ebak ( dung or poh) ng ALAMID. Bago mag umaga puno na ang lalagyan at pulagasan ng pauwi ng bahay. Pag dating sa bahay kape pa rin ang ulam sa almusal, sinabawang kanin sa kape at binanging sapsap o hawot na panggang. Walang kasawa- sawa sa kape pati ang mga bata. Minsan nga sa paginom ng kape, napasarap at pati latak ay hinigop, sabi ng mamay, " Kainamang bata ari, may kasimuran, pati latak ay nilantakan."
Isang malaking palayok ang ipunan ng mamay sa pinanlimot naming kape at bago sumapit ang Sabado handa na para patuyuin. Ala... ay puno na eh, awas na sa lalagyan, sabi ng mamay.
Pagkatuyo , babayuhin sa lusong para maalis ang balat at ihahanda naman para isangag. Noon wala rin kaming gilingan at sa lusong din pararaanin ang paggiling. Sa bandang hapon , abot sa kahanggan ang amoy ng nilagang kapeng barako. Huntahan habang humihigop ng most expensive coffee in the world.

[Manolito Sulit]

Maraming salamat po sa pagpapaskil ninyo ng kuwentong ito. Ang ganitong mga pag-alaala ng karanasan ang nagpapayaman sa kultura at kasaysayan. Many Filipinos, especially the young, have failed to preserve many aspects of culture (like we're constantly changing our ways and decades seem like centuries to us when we try to look back), because we also fail to take note and recount stories like this, so we may be able to pass on to our children the "wisdom of the ages" (to use a cliche) and preserve the things we hold dear about the place and the people.

Please continue so that others may be inspired to share their experiences, too.