DAVAO CITY (September 8) — Before a machine checks the moisture of coffee beans, Princess Dian Tapdasan uses a simpler tool: her teeth.
In Sitio Pluto, Balutakay, Davao del Sur, the 28-year-old coffee processor presses a parchment-covered bean between her molars. The crunch tells her whether it is dry enough—a local technique called the paak method.
Tapdasan does not own a coffee farm. But as head processor of the Balutakay Coffee Farmers Agriculture Cooperative, she helps turn farmers’ harvests into high-quality Arabica beans.
“I do not chase quantity; I focus on quality,” she said. “From picking and sorting to processing, quality is what the cooperative stands on.”
Her careful work helped take Balutakay coffee beyond Mount Apo. Tapdasan became a Philippine finalist in the Arabica category of the Southeast Asia Green Coffee Competition in Vietnam after placing in the national qualifiers.
For her, the competition is not just about winning.
“It is about testing the quality of our beans and showing what our cooperative can do,” she said.
A coffee career by accident
Tapdasan grew up helping her vegetable-farming parents, but she never planned to become a coffee specialist.
When she joined the cooperative in 2022, she expected to work in field surveying and harvesting. Instead, she was assigned to coffee buying and post-harvest processing.
She started with little knowledge. On the job, she learned how to sort beans, check moisture and handle washed, natural and honey processing methods.
“It was a big challenge because I started with no knowledge at all,” Tapdasan said. “They taught me everything on the floor.”
Her attention to detail eventually earned her a bigger role: helping decide how each batch of coffee should be processed.
A few defective beans can affect an entire batch, so she checks the harvest carefully from start to finish.
Tapdasan is also part of a growing number of women taking on technical roles in the coffee industry—work once often associated with men.
She believes women’s patience and focus can be strengths in coffee processing.
A future in the highlands
Davao is known for cacao and coconut, but its highlands are also building a name for specialty coffee.
Farmers grow Arabica, Robusta, Liberica and Excelsa across the region. In communities such as Balutakay and Maragusan, small farmers are experimenting with shade-grown farming and new processing methods to improve flavor.
But coffee farming is not easy. Many trees are old, planting materials are limited and farm infrastructure remains a challenge. Farmers also have to wait years before new coffee trees produce enough fruit to earn from.
That slow return can make it difficult to convince young people to stay in farming.
Tapdasan wants to change that.
“Coffee requires patience because the return on investment takes time,” she said. “That is why many get discouraged. My challenge now is to share knowledge and show the youth that farming has a viable, dignified future.”
“Trust the Princess”
Tapdasan continues to test fermentation methods and other techniques to bring out the best flavors in every harvest.
Her coworkers have even given her a motto: “Trust the Princess.”
She rarely gets to taste the specialty coffee made from the beans she processes. Still, seeing the cooperative’s name on national and international leaderboards makes the hard work worthwhile.
“It is a great honor to serve my community as their coffee processor,” Tapdasan said. “When someone tastes the coffee and appreciates it, all the hard work becomes worth it.”
