Yardstick Coffee has been roasting in Manila since 2013. The name comes from its aim to keep raising the “yardstick” of what coffee means for the industry and for coffee drinkers in the Philippines. It roasts on two machines, a Diedrich IR-5 and a Probat P12, logs every roast in software for consistency and cups each production batch against its own standards. Coffee for wholesale partners is roasted on demand.

Golden Ticket and Legazpi are the flagship espresso blends, and Yardstick has listed the composition of each blend since its first day. Legazpi is named after the neighbourhood where the company began. Seasonal coffees for filter and espresso change every month, and the Secret Stash series carries rarer lots from its sourcing partners.

The flagship in Legazpi Village, Makati, has a bean shop for coffee and home-brewing equipment, a workshop room and the Flavor Bar, where every seat is booked in advance. Sessions there run from a single V60 pour-over served with a pastry to a 45-minute tasting built on a theme, with a menu that changes with the seasons. Yardstick Aguirre, also in Legazpi Village, is the newest café and leans towards more experimental brews.

Yardstick runs coffee bars across Metro Manila. MOA Square is a tiny bar facing Manila Bay that brews on a Modbar. The Otaku Room in Bonifacio Global City, run with atmos Philippines, serves coffee cocktails and pour-overs of coffees from Japanese roasters. At The Podium in Ortigas, a red La Marzocco FB80 sits beside The Daily Cut. The bars inside Maisonette at Rockwell and Opus Mall serve drinks made with functional ingredients, Salcedo Village pours inside Cartel Deli, SM Aura is a takeaway bar in the cinema, and The Corner House in San Juan has outdoor seating.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Yardstick Coffee