09/09/2025
๐ซถ๐ฝโก๏ธ
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๐๐๐๐๐๐ | ๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐-๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐
๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ
There exist numerous cafรฉs in Agoo, but only one attested to stand the trials of a four-hour-sleep-ridden college studentโs routine.
Homies was created to be a familiar space. Only one crosswalk away from DMMMSU-SLUC, it caters the sleep-deprived students on their daily much-needed caffeine, provides a space for their rushed requirements, and offers a cup for their yearning for a taste of a long-awaited familiarity. A break.
The origin of the cafรฉโs name was when Mark Rivera, the owner of Homies, was brainstorming with his brother and friendsโhis homies.
โSo naisip namin, why not mag-build kami ng community?โ
The origin story is a shared unspoken secret to the public: Homies was built as a community-based cafรฉ wherein those who choose to stay for a little break are homies.
Barkadas.
๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐๐ฌ.
In a world wherein taste always has a story, the love of creation comes with invention.
Homies offers their own house-blend flavors that their customers always return to. There are nine house blends of iced coffee, eight for espresso, five for non-coffee, and six for frappe, but dirty matcha, vanilla cream latte, and Spanish latte are what satiate the studentโs buds to blend Homies with their college life.
โ๐๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐จโโ
Dirty Matcha has a distinct color combination that reminds the masses of turfโsoil layered with grassโwhich ultimately caused them to decide matcha tastes like grass. However, without correlation, matcha tastes exactly like its color: green. Natural and tastes like foreign tradition.
In Homies, dirty matcha is the blend of bitterness and light sweetness. Some students do not have the same story to tell, but undeniably so, a sip of dirty matcha reminds certain students of their college years, for its pungent mix of umami and creamy sweetness lingers from their freshman year to their senior year.
It lingers from the first stutter of oneโs name in front of unfamiliar peers and rumbling stomachs in lecturesโ ungodly hours to oneโs help-me-eyes for their friends in raffled index cards. From being strangers to being friends with some, to being acquainted with everyoneโ
A flavor so memorable it is filled with beginnings and expected endings.
Dirty Matcha tastes exactly like its brown and green color. Earth and Nature. A planted bud. The beginning of growth. A cycle of come-and-go.
And the act of looking back on how you have grown.
โ๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐กโโ
It is without a doubt a staple on coffee tables, warm-lighted rooms, and wifi-connected phones. In solo tables, friend-group-shared ones, or stranger-shared ones, it is notably always there.
The blend of Arabica and Robustaโs bitterness complemented with the sweet softness of milk is balanced by the floral essence of vanilla. Some say it tastes like typical coffee and milk. Some say it tastes like clouds for its softness. Some say it tastes like their coffee dates. Some sayโ
Vanilla Cream Latte tastes exactly how it tastes.
Whether agreed upon or not, or the same with the others or not, it tastes exactly the way it tastes to people. Varied, but never unlikedโbecause it tastes exactly how it should taste.
It tastes like being plunged headfirst into unfamiliar routes without prior experiences, complemented with the relief of being supported by peers and balanced by learning from mentors. It tastes like heartbreaks from life and academe with the absurdity of being expected to be better in the morning. It tastes like submitting a paper at 11:58 PM and then having a complete eight-hour sleep after. It tastes like celebrating a small win. It tastes like a feeling with certain people. A certain kind of smile. A certain softness. And a certain kind of home.
Vanilla Cream Latte tastes exactly how it should taste.
The blend of its bitterness, softness, and sweetness is the culmination of the human experience. It is with every cafรฉ, in every shared table, and in every student who crosses the road for their much-awaited break. It is always there.
Because it is a combination of flavors that has a lot of stories to tell.
โ๐๐จ๐๐ค๐๐-๐ข๐ง ๐๐ค๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ข. ๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ ๐ฉ๐จ.โ
Papers must be passed, grades must be clutched, and everything must be rushed. Homies is not only a lounge for students reminiscing about past lectures; it is also a battlefield wherein some of them rush their requirements that need a wifi connection, a place to ponder upon it, and where to acquire the antidote for sleep.
Spanish Latte is Homiesโ best seller. Those who want to stay awake until ungodly hours and need their kick of caffeine for the day but do not want to commit to Sweet Black and Americano choose Spanish Latte for its pungent essence of the house-blend coffee balanced with the sweetness of condensed milk and the creaminess of milk. Not too sweet and still creamy.
Spanish Latte tastes like planning on finishing revisions, requirements, and projects until ungodly hours and finding caffeine as a beneficial tool for adrenaline-rushed works masked as results of productivity.
It is one of the original flavors. It is familiar. Trusted. Tried and tested; known and loved. Reliable.
Just as the cafรฉ itself.
Homies has remained true to its name ever since its creation. Ever since the expansion of their cafe, and it will still be even after future plans. When everything gets too much, one can always cross the road and be met with Homiesโa space of familiarity. A place where stories have taste.
Homies is exactly what it entailsโa home for the HOMIES.
๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ | Sunshine Jade Fontanilla
๐๐๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ | Benjie Boadilla
