<P> In the Philippines, coffee has a history as rich as its flavor . The first coffee tree was introduced in Lipa, Batangas in 1740 by a Spanish Franciscan monk . From there, coffee growing spread to other parts of Batangas like Ibaan, Lemery, San Jose, Taal, and Tanauan . Batangas owed much of its wealth to the coffee plantations in these areas and Lipa eventually became the coffee capital of the Philippines . </P> <P> By the 1860s, Batangas was exporting coffee to America through San Francisco . When the Suez Canal was opened, a new market started in Europe as well . Seeing the success of the Batangeños, Cavite followed suit by growing the first coffee seedlings in 1876 in Amadeo . In spite of this, Lipa still reigned as the center for coffee production in the Philippines and Batangas barako was commanding five times the price of other Asian coffee beans . In 1880, the Philippines was the fourth largest exporter of coffee beans, and when the coffee rust hit Brazil, Africa, and Java, it became the only source of coffee beans worldwide . </P> <P> The glory days of the Philippine coffee industry lasted until 1889 when coffee rust hit the Philippine shores . That, coupled with an insect infestation, destroyed virtually all the coffee trees in Batangas . Since Batangas was a major producer of coffee, this greatly affected national coffee production . In two years, coffee production was reduced to 1 / 6th its original amount . By then, Brazil had regained its position as the world's leading producer of coffee . A few of the surviving coffee seedlings were transferred from Batangas to Cavite, where they flourished . This was not the end of the Philippines' coffee growing days, but there was less area allotted to coffee because many farmers had shifted to other crops . </P> <P> During the 1950s, the Philippine government, with the help of the Americans, brought in a more resistant variety of coffee . It was also then that instant coffee was being produced commercially, thus increasing the demand for beans . Because of favorable market conditions, many farmers went back to growing coffee in the 1960s . But the sudden proliferation of coffee farms resulted in a surplus of beans around the world, and for a while importation of coffee was banned in order to protect local coffee producers . When Brazil was hit by a frost in the 1970s, world market coffee prices soared . The Philippines became a member of the International Coffee Organization (ICO) in 1980 . </P>

Where do the legends about the cultivation and habit of drinking coffee come from