Cafe Kayman

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Cafe Kayman Celebrating Coffee, Food, and People
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The first hybrid shop in Baguio City that offers a unique experience with its triad of services - a Nibbler Fish Spa; a fresh roast Coffee Shop; and a Boutique - all in one!

Saturday Latte☕❤️👌
19/09/2026

Saturday Latte☕❤️👌

Last of this blog series. If you've been following our previous blogs, this is the last of the bunch so bear with us. 🐻 ...
16/09/2026

Last of this blog series.

If you've been following our previous blogs, this is the last of the bunch so bear with us. 🐻 😊

In business like in life, when you get beat up, it’s either you surrender or stand back up and fight. After the pandemic, we took all the blows with what we’ve got. However, there will come a point when you have to realize that you’ve gotta stop fighting and just stop, reflect, and decide if you wanna continue fighting or take on a different opponent. For us, we chose to do both. We resigned from our old location at the heart of the city to go and explore what the city limits can offer us. It was certainly the same opponent but a different battle.

We transferred the café here at the foot of Mt. Santo Tomas bordering Baguio and Tuba. Yes, it is bit far as many of our visiting guests always point out but we were glad we chose this place. Aside from the quiet and peaceful place beneath the mountain, the most beautiful thing here wasn’t the ambiance or the view. Rather, it was the people. Apugan, Sto. Tomas is a farming community that is composed of residents whose roots trace from Mountain Province and some from Benguet – our own people. The culture, community, language, and simplicity of life were something we grew up with. Given the familiar neighborhood, the transition was seamless. The kindest of people you can encounter as any place here in the mountains. To the people of Apugan, Santo Tomas, we thank you for your warm and kind reception. We will never forget you.

As we reach our 10th year, we would like to thank everyone who had been a part of our journey through a decade. From our partners, service suppliers, mentors, industry acquaintances, and everyone who had partake of our services, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Lastly, to all of our staff who had worked with us this past 10 years, we will always look back and treasure our time spent together. You all will always be family.

Onwards to more coffee, Cheers! ☺️☕♥️🙏

The Dreadful Pandemic.March 17, 2020. Who could ever forget this day. The announcement came as a shock to everyone when ...
31/08/2026

The Dreadful Pandemic.

March 17, 2020. Who could ever forget this day. The announcement came as a shock to everyone when the mayor announced that the city would be put to lockdown immediately. All businesses and establishments would be closed and everybody required to go home. We all thought it would only be for days or 2 weeks utmost. Those 2 weeks turned to 2 months, then 2 years.😷

When the businesses started opening under strict covid protocols, it wasn’t a crawl to stand up again. It was digging ourselves out from the grave and sadly, majority didn’t make it out. The landscape and dynamics of conducting business was dramatically restructured for good. It was brutal and painful. We had to adapt to the change of times to survive a threatening future. As the old normal of sitting down with people over coffee is not recommended, we had to improvise our business structure. Enter the organic farmers of Shilan, La Trinidad. Since vegetable farmers were one of those hit the hardest, we decided to collaborate with them and display their daily harvest in the shop. We had to sacrifice most tables to accommodate fresh organic vegetables. It was a sight to behold. 🥦🥬🫑🌽🥕 Additionally, we had Tabuk Rice hauled from our friend in Kalinga to be included in the display. Locally made vegetable chips were also added among others like instant ramen. Anything at all to keep us afloat.

Moreover, the term Al Fresco is now important for food service businesses as it is an advantage among customers to have at least a breath of fresh air from the risk of contracting the virus. We had to ask the management of Abanao Square to let us use the roof deck as our temporary dining area. Fortunately, they obliged and the idea of setting up an area complementing our existing design was challenging but really fun. Thank you to all who enjoyed dining Al Fresco overlooking the city center.

We were really thankful to have known these people who were more than helpful during the most challenging time of all. Thank you. It was an experience for everybody like no other. 🙏🙏🙏

Coffee is Meant to be Shared.– Chris McCandless, Into The Wild (He said “happiness” but tomato, tomahto😅 )Maybe the most...
28/08/2026

Coffee is Meant to be Shared.
– Chris McCandless, Into The Wild

(He said “happiness” but tomato, tomahto😅 )

Maybe the most fulfilling part of this business is not coffee itself. But the person sitting across you. Coffee is a beverage, yes. But often times, it is encompassing of a culture that is the Filipino culture. “Kape tayo” isn’t just an invitation to drink one but rather to get together, share stories or just be with someone. It is central to each Filipino’s social in*******se be it a simple meet up or a barangay fiesta. An affair isn’t just complete without coffee somewhere among the "handa".🍖🥩🫕🍲🧆☕

As part of the coffee industry, we have been blessed to have met people who share the same passion for the bean. People who have different stories and backgrounds. Coffee shop owners, roasters, baristas, avid brewers, just overall coffee enthusiasts. All of them coming together to learn and uplift each other as this was the time when local specialty coffee scene was kicking off and no longer just in the background. To have met such people and being part of the movement was a privilege and honor we will always treasure in our coffee journey. 🙏💯☕

We would like to personally thank them for including us in exploring this beautiful little bean we call coffee. We cannot name you all, you know who you are, thank you. (Apologies if some don’t have pics as we can only find so much in our baul). Coffee Cheers! ☕❤️

The Third and Fourth Wave.When we started, the coffee culture we know now hasn’t flourished yet. Coffee was still just a...
26/08/2026

The Third and Fourth Wave.

When we started, the coffee culture we know now hasn’t flourished yet. Coffee was still just a part of the menu and not the main course. I remember the first time I experienced coffee poured in a vessel with a piece of cone paper in front of me. I honestly thought to myself “What is happening??” It was my friend Carla, the owner of Café Yagam who introduced this mysterious way of brewing coffee. It was weird yet fascinating and really piqued our curiosity. Most interestingly, the coffee that came out of that dripper was really something! 😍

The excitement to learn about this finicky way of brewing the cup of joe was through the roof. Trying every way of brewing with different coffee beans from different origins was one of the most exhilarating feelings especially for a beginner like us. We were so excited to share these with our guests. It was so easy to get caught up in the gold rush especially for beginners like us. Until, along the way we lost sight of what really matters. Customers were little by little whittling away not because of the bad coffee, but rather because of the “good coffee”. It dawned on us that most guests just wanted to drink coffee, have some peace and quiet, and not get lectured on what they drinking. 😬

Understanding coffee was more than reading the extraction numbers and ratios. While it was important to be knowledgeable and give justice to the hard work of the farmers in those beans, having a grounded grasp of the reality on the ground is of equal importance. Continuous learning with the help of other coffee professionals especially of our roaster, Sir Richard Abellon, made us understand the role coffee plays not just in the industry but more importantly in our history and culture. Coffee was the common denominator in people’s daily struggles, successes, and everything in between. We knew then that we had to offer more than just a beverage but something that folks can come back to when they need some place to celebrate their wins, lament their losses, or just to find calm to be able to think.
With this hard lesson, we have re-learned to enjoy serving our guests with a full heart and a satisfied smile. ☺️☕❤️

Coffee. The blood of this business.☕ 🌱 Anyone starting a coffee shop should always start with choosing good coffee. We k...
24/08/2026

Coffee. The blood of this business.☕ 🌱

Anyone starting a coffee shop should always start with choosing good coffee. We knew good coffee from bad coffee. Problem is, we have zero idea where to get the good one. The coffee industry then wasn’t booming like it is now. You really had to go out your way to the source to obtain a traceable and quality one. We sourced beans from La Trinidad, Kibungan, and other parts of Benguet but it was a bit tedious. It was guess work during the early days as we refused to buy from the public market. We remembered that roastery along the way, Cosy’s Roasterie, at Imelda Village which we were always curious about. We got to know Pastor Joel Cosalan and his team. Really great guy to talk with about coffee as he was always willing to share stories and insights regarding the business of sourcing and roasting the good beans.

Eventually, we got to introduced to one of the low profile yet storied roasters from La Trinidad in the person of Sir Richard Abellon and his equally smart wife in Maam Christine. We got to visit their roastery in Balilli (which was ergonomically structured and neat by the way). This was the start of a 10 year relationship that is built on trust and symbiotic relationship. With Sir Richard, consistency and quality was always guaranteed. Starting from helping organic farmers with their crops, they transitioned to coffee and carried those same principles that highly value traceability, integrity, and quality of product. The most valuable thing we got however from shadowing his roasting was not the beans but the lessons he never fails to share. The insights from his deep intuition on how the coffee industry runs as a global machine is impeccable. It forced us to reflect on what we truly value and how we can bring meaning to what we were doing. ❤️

Months before we opened the shop, we got to meet a couple farmer during one of the cuppings we attended which was facilitated by Kapi Tako and the now defunct Café Yagam (which by the way the owner was a friend and batchmate from Lepanto National High School way way back) in Gibraltar. The couple, Sir Allan and Maam Catherine Canam were newbies in the coffee industry as they were still about to harvest their first beans from their farm. We had no idea how cupping works and those notes we were writing were secretly guess work.😅 Fast forward to a year or two, we were able to visit their beautiful farm and another tick on bucket list was achieved. It was an eye opening experience as we got to see the journey of our coffee beans from the tree to the cup with the help of beautiful and kind people we were blessed enough to have met along the way. ☕❤️🌱

So here it is. Some few pics of our early days upon opening. The place was as simple as can be and still ways off from t...
23/08/2026

So here it is. Some few pics of our early days upon opening. The place was as simple as can be and still ways off from the design it turned out to be after a few years. There wasn’t any single plan or design for the interior as we like to tinker around the decors as time goes by. It’s just the way we approach that and we kinda liked it. The picture of our staff was the earliest one I could find (around Christmas 2016). There was Elma, Mikay, Noel, and Arlene who was our first employee at the boutique and the longest tenured up to that time. We were like a rag tag team, both employees and employers, who had to learn on the fly. 😅 We slowly figured it out and eventually got things right. Good times with these guys as we all are on the same boat and we all survived the initial storm together. We were also visited by our mentors from the Baguio City School of Arts and Trades (now CSITE) as almost all of us were products of the school.

The first day was the most unforgettable ever in our journey. The anxiety, uncertainty, fear, and excitement all mixed together was something that would definitely stick. Almost half the day has gone without any customers and finally there walked in front of the spotlight our first ever guest! It was one for the books as the lady and her mother came in for coffee and some muffins. The most we loved about her is that she kept coming back every anniversary. It was special. The unfortunate thing however, was that we never got her name. Social media wasn’t as big back then so we never bothered to ask for her handles. So if you’re reading this, please reach out so we can get to know them. Our apologies.😁🙏

The most surprising thing however was the menu. Look at those prices! P75 for a Latte?!!😱 What happened?? I was glad that I had a picture of our first ever menu. That was all of it, really. As basic as it can get. Our food offerings were limited to pastries which we sourced out from one of the best bakers here in Baguio, Manang Gerlyn Lumasi (Bachichay’s Cakes and Pastries on facebook) and those iconic kiwi and orange muffins from Kiwi Pastry and Bakeshop from their old bakery in Mines View (now located in Puregold Marcos Hi-Way). Plus, the garden salad which is still one of our staple today at the café. Oh the economy back then… Good times.. 😊☕♥️

2026. And just like that, we are almost 10 years in existence.😯As we approach our anniversary, we would like to take you...
22/08/2026

2026. And just like that, we are almost 10 years in existence.😯

As we approach our anniversary, we would like to take you all for a stroll down memory lane. We'd be posting everyday some core memories, both highs, lows, and (even lower) of our journey.😊 So, bear with us as we go sentimental on this.😅

We didn't actually start in coffee. Let's get that out of the way. How we got to serving coffee actually started as a literal side project. As dry goods and retail was our main business, we expanded to the vacant adjacent space inside Abanao Square. The area was spacious so we brainstormed on what else can we add in. As an avid coffee drinker, I thought; why not serve coffee? So there it is, since we were neither engineers, architects nor artists, we had to improvise and just put some personal touch to the design. Most of the fixtures and furnitures used were either extra, unused, or upcycled things from our home. Some were bargained 2nd hand equipment that needed a bit of work to restore. The work was done solely by the two of us with the help of our 1st barista, Noel, a fresh graduate from TESDA. After a month of holing ourselves up like the elves from the shoemaker story, this soon to be space will come to life. A little bit of embellishment here and there and it was done as a part of the boutique.

Writing this seems like it was only yesterday we were there arguing which stuff will go where.😅 Apparently, these pictures were the only surviving images from that time (if there were any other). Thank you for staying. Tune in again tomorrow as I try to salvage more pictures from that era.😅

😮🤯🤩😍😍😍💐🔥💯
22/08/2026

😮🤯🤩😍😍😍💐🔥💯

Astonishing! 🔥🔥 🔥♥️💐
18/08/2026

Astonishing! 🔥🔥 🔥♥️💐

Address

87, Apugan, Sto. Tomas Central
Baguio City
2600

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 7pm
Tuesday 9am - 7pm
Wednesday 9am - 7pm
Thursday 9am - 7pm
Friday 9am - 8pm
Saturday 9am - 8pm
Sunday 9am - 7pm

Telephone

+639273421771

Website

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