Buy 1 Take 1 at Starbucks

Buy one, Get one beverage at Starbucks today OCTOBER 21

Starbucks extends Buy 1 , Take 1 promo

Planning to have  coffee with a friend?  Today is the best time to bond over a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Whether you want iced coffee or frap or any of their handcrafted beverages, you get another one for free. Here's how:

1. Promo period is October 14 (MONDAY)
2. Pay using the Starbucks PH phone app
3. Order a Grande handcrafted beverage
4. The buy one get one promo is available from 11am-6pm
5. Maximum of two purchased beverages per customer

Starbucks bolts in restroom

Need to pee or do your personal necessities? Well you can do it anywhere else except at starbucks SM Ecoland. Unless of course you have the ticket to the restroom, in this case, a receipt to prove you have ordered and paid your dues!

Davao gets first dibs on Macau's Juice Cubi

The Juice Cubi brand Monster Series includes Starry Night, Ocean Breeze, and Lady In Red.

After getting their fill of milk and cheese-based drinks, Dabawenyos are lucky to get first dibs on what Juice Cubi, a Macau-based juice drink company, has to offer.

Thanks to Davao-based entrepreneur Irene Co-Uy who opened last week the country’s first Juice Cubi store at SM City Ecoland. The brand may be some kind of a novelty for Dabawenyos which is not surprising at all considering that it has never been offered here, until Irene got the exclusive brand franchise for the Philippines.

“We have the exclusive franchise in the Philippines for Juice Cubi which means we can deal with anyone who wants to open a Juice Cubi here," she said.

The first branch of the fruit tea store is set to open by end of August at the Mall of Asia (MOA) in Pasay City.

Irene chose the city to be the brand’s first location in the Philippines because she has been based in the city for the past three years and she saw the demand and the opportunity here.

However, she also acknowledged that Manila presents a larger market so they also want to establish the brand there.

Juice Cubi, which is also known as Juice Mummy under the Juice Monster brand of Banhe Catering Management, Co., Ltd, originated from Macau. It is a special juice shop that also belongs to the Macau Imperial Tea brand already established in the city.

“As exclusive franchise holder, we are the only one authorized to put up the Juice Cubi brand in the Philippines and if someone is interested to franchise they meet up with us,” she said.

The franchise fee for opening a Juice Cubi store depends on the size of the store. Franchise fee for the  25-square meter kiosk type which only sells drinks, can range from P2 to P3 million.

The kiosk is much smaller than the standalone store that recently opened here, which sells the different fruit tea varieties as well as pastries.

The franchise fee already includes all the equipment, furniture, appliances and the first batch of raw materials needed by the business owner to start and operate the juice kiosk. It also includes the manual and the operating procedure.

Juice Cubi’s brand ambassador is Cubi Rabbit, a playful rabbit that represents the target market of the brand, the playful and adventure-loving young and young-once consumers.

The brand’s most popular drink “Starry Night” viral online because of its changing color. 

Soon, Juice Cubi will incorporate local fruit flavors into their product line-up with durian as a first choice. After all, the Philippines is a tropical country rich in fruits like mango and they want to take advantage of that.

If you want to get your money's worth then a must-try is the Dark Knight Monster Drink.

PRICE: P140-160

Rating: 💖💖💖

Starbucks logo gets a facelift

The Starbucks logo has undergone a new facelift, its fourth after its debut in 1971. This time, it' still green but sans the words.

The Starbucks logo started out brown, with a disjointed half-bodied siren. The logo got a facelift in 1987 again, turning green and with the words Starbucks and Coffee written on the ring outside the siren. Another facelift was done when the company became publicly traded in 1992, still green but this time with a much better image of the siren. That was the logo all of us have become familiar with over the years.

Starbucks however unveiled a new logo Wednesday, still green but this time dropping the words that used to encircle the sea nymph. The siren is big and all green this time.

The world's largest coffee company said the logo change is more than cosmetic but actually gives a fresh look to a company which has survived almost 40 years. Apparently, they believe that Starbucks has become a recognized brand worldwide that there is no longer a need to put the name on the logo.

Jazule Cafe' opens at Bluejaz Resort

It was nine months ago when Bluejaz Resort owner Jazmin Middleton asked me to have coffee with her by the sea. She was referring to that cemented portion near the seashore of the resort, just past the jetty.

True to her words, Jaz asked me to have coffee with her at the exact location. Bluejaz launched the Jazule Coffee Shop last Saturday, October 23.

While there are several coffee shops in mainland Davao, nothing can compare to Jazule, even if serves simple coffee concoctions only.

"No coffee shop can claim to having the same view that you can have here at Jazule," Jazmin said.

My classmate and BJ's ninong Atty. Baste Legaspina was there to cut the ribbon with Jazmin.

Jazule is located at the Bluejaz Resort, Samal Island.

Coffee Alternative: George Steuart Tea

While coffee has its benefits there are those who are looking at an ideal alternative. Nothing can beat tea as a coffee alternative. In fact, some people prefer to drink tea than coffee because it has a lot of health benefits.

Here's one person who is espousing the benefits of tea and so he has brought Sri Lanka's famous tea to the Philippines.

If there’s one thing that stands out from his resume it is his affiliation with almost everything that has to do with food and beverages. It is thus not surprising that Rene Esteban is one of the main personalities behind Brixton International Food Corporation, a food and beverage manufacturing company advocating for health and wellness.

But that’s cutting the story short. Esteban was already into the food and food processing industry a long time before he joined George Steuarts Philippines, Inc. in 1990 as its research and development product consultant. He has a Business Economics degree under his sleeves and is a graduate of the University of Hawaii of Manoa’s particularly in Food Processing and Food Designs.

His primary responsibility was to formulate food and beverage products for his clients including George Steuart which is a Sri Lanka based firm. George Steuart is considered one of the world’s oldest companies founded in 1935 by sailor captain James Steuart who sailed to Ceylon in the beginning of the 19th century and saw the area’s potential for business.

George Steuart is a company that started with coffee and ended up with tea. It is funny how the company started as a managing and financing house for coffee plantations but ended up in the tea production business after coffee was abandoned in 1870.

Today, the company owns and manages thousands of hectares of tea plantations in Ceylon. It is one of the major exporters of tea---green, black and herbal---to the Philippines, Taiwan, Middle East and West Africa.

George Steuart Teas are all primed for health and wellness from weight management (Steuarts & Riston Pure Green Tea), antioxidants to combat free radicals (Strawberry, Cranberry and Raspberry Teas) and even hypertension (Pure Organic Black Tea).

His long partnership with George Steuart encouraged Esteban’s love affair with health and wellness products that he decided to form Brixton International in 2007 with the aim of providing healthy and natural beverages to enhance healthy lifestyle and social responsibility.

George Steuarts Philippines and Brixton International are owned by Mr. Benjamin S. Talan and his family in partnership with the global George Steuart.

“More than the profits it should be our social responsibility that should guide us in developing our businesses,’ Esteban, who is now Brixton vice president for research and development said. Barely two years from its inception Brixton is already eyeing international expansion and has received inquiries from some parts of Asia and Europe.

Brixton manufactures ready to drink healthy beverages that do not contain artificial flavoring and coloring. One of the company’s very first concoctions is the Camelya antioxidant drink made of 100% Ceylon Tea with extracts of mixed berries, wild green honey and lemongrass.

Pure Ceylon Tea contains antioxidants like polyphenols which protects the body from free radicals. Lemongrass is one of the main ingredients of Camelya since it is known for its antiseptic, revitalizing, anti-inflammatory, cleansing and anti-bacterial properties. Lemongrass can also be effective in providing relief against nausea, arthritis and PMS.

Camelya is available in three flavors—Green Tea with Lemongrass and Green Honey (Yellow ), Green Tea with Lemongrass and Green Honey with no added sugar (Green) and Black Tea with Strawberry, Raspberry and Cranberry Extract (Red).

“What is unique about Camelya is that it is made of 100% Ceylon Tea mixed with indigenous ingredients including fruits, vegetables and herbs,” Esteban said.

Brixton adheres to stringent quality control, good manufacturing practice and product standards. Esteban is a certified US Food and Drug Administration food processor making him a bona fide food processing supervisor.

Esteban is happy that the Dabawenyos have warmly welcomed the entry of Steuart Teas and Brixton’s Camelya ready to drink beverage. With this in mind, he hopes that Dabawenyos would be more aware of living a life associated with health and wellness.

Alpine Valley Coffee Mug and K-cup single serve coffee for hearts day

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and if you're still dizzy after the extensive gift-giving during the holidays and you do not have any idea what to give your family and friends then your woes are over. Weren't you always at a dilemma where to put your K-cup single serve coffee?

The Alpine Valley Coffee Mug is a great gift item that will make the recipient think of you whenever they drink coffee. This 16-oz Porcelain mug comes with the logo of Alpine Valley Coffee so it speaks of quality. The great thing about this mug which you can use for your K-cup single serve coffee is that you can easily remove the drip tray and it will fit in any brewer just like any travel mug.

But don't just give the mug without including a K-cup single serve coffee because it slips up the fact that you a connoisseur of good coffee. If you're giving the Alpine Valley Coffee mug as a gift to several people then why not personalize the gift by enclosing different types of coffee like the Caribou Sumatra K-cup Coffee, the Caribou Sumatra Decaf K-cup Coffee or the Caribou French Roast K-cup Coffee. There are lots of K-cup single serve coffee you can choose from.

AlpineValleyCoffee is a great source of the finest K-Cups coffee and the Keurig K-Cups and to save time and effort, just order your coffee mugs and the coffee that goes with the gift, at one time since they also offer free ground shipping for orders worth more than $30. And while you're busy buying gifts for everyone, don't forget to get one for yourself. You can even avail of the discounts being offered for specific coffee types. Try the new coffee products Emeril's Vanilla Bean BAM! and Emeril's Organic French Quarter Roast.