March 1, 2025
How We Began
It started in front of our own gate.
During the pandemic, we set up a small popup stall right outside our home. Just cold brew and pour over, and a simple question we needed answered: could good coffee supplies even make it to a small town like ours here in Lagonoy, Camarines Sur? And if they could—was there anyone here who’d want a cup?
Turns out, there was.
That little stall gave us our answer. So we kept going. We moved into pickup and delivery, sending out bottled cold brew, matcha, and tea to whoever wanted them, all while we quietly held onto a bigger dream: a real coffee house of our own.
We wandered, we tasted, we watched how other coffee places did things, and we gathered ideas for what Kape Maria could become. We came home with a clearer picture—and a deep want to build something that felt like ours. Not a copy of somewhere else, but something rooted right here.
So that’s exactly how we built it.
Every corner of Kape Maria was built from pieces gathered close to home. Our doors and rattan furnishings came from Cebu, our capiz windows from Naga, and our chairs were hand-woven by local artisans right here in Lagonoy. Even the roof carries thousands of anahaw leaves sourced from a nearby barangay. Everything native, everything local—because we wanted to show that what's homegrown can be just as beautiful, and just as good, as anything from somewhere far away.
On January 3, 2023, Kape Maria opened its doors. And we’ve been serving the same favorites ever since.
It was a slow start—but that slowness is exactly what built our foundation. We’re so grateful for the chance to share our passion for coffee and food, to build a livelihood from something we love, and most of all, to still be here today, sharing our space with this community.
Thank you for growing with us.
— the Kape Maria team