I try not to pass up an invite for coffee on any day. Couple that with a trip to a famous mall that I have been longing to go to and I have an excuse to wake up early on a saturday and drive all the way to Trinoma in Quezon City.

It was a glaring hot saturday when my husband and I went for coffee at UCC Cafe Terrace in Trinoma. This is I think the third time I went to UCC. I can clearly remember the two other times I did. One was during an office meeting and another for a team lunch. Both in the Paseo Center branch in Makati. Both times were truly enjoyable and I recall – I thought, expensive.

I learned that UCC grows their own coffee beans which is the source of the coffee they serve in their cafes. They have plantations in Indonesia, Hawaii and Jamaica where they also have their own classificadores or cup tasters. Imagine total control over the creation of a unique taste for coffee that remains consistent in every branch. Now I understand why their price is way higher than CBTL or Starbucks.

First on the agenda was some coffee tasting. We were first made to try UCC Blend which is the house coffee made with a variety of beans and different types of roasts. It came in siphon apparatus that reminded me of my old high school science lab. Although I am a coffee drinker, I rarely drink my coffee black. So I put some muscovado sugar and special cream. I was told that they offered a cream specially made to compliment their coffee. I observed that the cream was not smooth and silky like those you would commonly see in other cafes. I cannot say exactly if the cream really made a difference as I have never tried UCC coffee with another brand of cream. The UCC Blend though was milder than what I am used to. The cream and sugar actually overpowered the taste and aroma of the coffee. Hmm. I was looking for something a bit stronger.

The second one we tasted was the Sumiyaki. This coffee blend is made from charcoal roasted beans. Not that it was roasted using charcoal but rather roasted until the beans turned charcoal in color. Ok ok, youre not stupid. Hehe. Just by the smell coming out of the small cup excited me. It was so aromatic. The taste of this blend was sweeter, bolder and fuller in flavor. I loved it so much.

The last cup served the famous and expensive Blue Mountain coffee. Of course I have heard of this type of coffee before although I have always wondered why it was so expensive. I learned that Blue Mountain coffee is expensive because the coffee beans come from only one place, in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. The climate and soil in that area is very much ideal to producing the perfect coffee beans. So perfect that this type of coffee has to be certified by the Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica before it can carry the name Blue Mountain. The taste is less bold than Sumiyaki but more compatible with my coffee tongue (did I say that right?).

After waking us up to three tiny but strong cups of coffee, we were served our choice of breakfast. Hubby got the Sausage and Waffles and of course I got the American Breakfast with Bacon. I don’t have to elaborate on the sausage or the bacon but let me just say that their waffles and toasted bread are unexpectedly good. Unexpected because both were packed not light that you truly get a full one for every bite. I usually get bread that is light and airy that you really can finish two slices in one sitting. This time, I finished two slices not because I could but I was so enamored by the taste and texture of the bread.

It was interesting to note that UCC serves dishes by the book. Meaning their food is cooked from tried and tested recipes that apparently even a five year old can follow. This makes it easier for them to rotate the staff from serving, to bussing, to cooking. The staff you will notice will be mostly female as the company banks on the fact that women are more naturally nurturing and would make good cafe staff. Hmm.

If the food was scientifically conceptualized, the dessert definitely was not. This is where UCC in Manila become different from the other franchises all over the world. The desserts served at UCC is the creation of a famous baker who happens to be the wife of UCC’s owner Hubert Young. Hint hint. Think Xanadu, Frozen brazo de mercedes. Karen Young is the baker behind UCC’s delicious desserts that make the coffee experience go up a notch.

A unique dessert served was the coffee jelly. Sounds totally unoriginal and looks harmless and tame right? But what appears to be a simple dessert made of gelatin is actually part of a complex process of cold brewing their signature coffee blend using a dutch machine and then frozen into coffee jelly. What you get is real coffee tasting jelly which is sweetened by the whipped cream it came with.

Of all the desserts served, I like the Kitkat mousse the best. The chocolate mousse was encased in shell made with ground chocolate kitkat wafer. It was not too sweet and the wafer shell provided the texture to the whole cake. I did not like the blueberry cheesecake because it was too sweet and rich. I imagined it to be a whole chunk of cream cheese out of the box placed on top of a graham crust and topped with blueberry. If it wasn’t that was what it tasted like.

I think UCC offers a different coffee drinking concept than what most people are used to. It makes you sit down and enjoy your coffee by enticing you with the many dishes they offer. It certainly makes you stop and smell the aroma of delicious coffee which is totally different from the fast paced life other cafes cater to.

UCC Cafe Terrace
Lobby Level Trinoma, North Ave. cor. EDSA
Quezon City, Metro Manila
Tel No: 900-6518