KapeCon 2026: The Ultimate Guide to Coffee, Tastings, Talks, and More

You don’t need to know the difference between washed and natural coffee, own a gooseneck kettle, or have strong opinions about grind size to enjoy a coffee festival. You just need to like coffee. Curiosity helps, too.

KapeCon 2026 returns to Paseo de Roxas in Makati on October 10 and 11, bringing together home brewers, coffee professionals, local producers, and the simply coffee-curious for two days of tastings, brewing workshops, competitions, and conversations. Organized by Coffee Home Brewers (CHB), a grassroots community of more than 67,000 members, the event is free to attend. Yes, even if your coffee knowledge begins and ends with your usual order.

What makes KapeCon worth your weekend?

Last year’s inaugural KapeCon drew around 15,000 visitors over two days. For its second edition, organizers are widening the event’s reach, bringing in more coffee and coffee-adjacent partners to reflect just how much coffee has become part of everyday Filipino life.

There are the home brewers who weigh their beans with laboratory-like precision, the café regulars always looking for their next favorite cup, and those who want to know more about the farmers and producers behind it all. KapeCon gives these different kinds of coffee drinkers a place to meet, without requiring anyone to pass a test on extraction ratios first.

That accessibility is central to the idea. “The best thing about KapeCon is it provides an accessible platform for coffee enthusiasts of all persuasions, from amateur coffee lovers to professional coffee entrepreneurs to connect, share knowledge, or simply hang out and enjoy each other’s company,” says CHB founder Rosario Juan.

In other words, you can come to learn, to taste, to talk shop, or simply to spend an afternoon around people who take their coffee seriously without necessarily taking themselves too seriously.

What should you look out for?

One of the event’s returning highlights is Kape’t Kamay, a coffee competition that pairs brewers together, quite literally, as they work toward the top spot. Expect teamwork, quick thinking, and the sort of complications that arise when making a good cup of coffee becomes a two-person challenge. It is a welcome reminder that coffee competitions need not be solemn affairs.

If you have ever wondered why beans from different origins taste so different, this is a good place to start. Tasting sessions will showcase coffees from various origins, offering visitors a chance to explore different flavor profiles and discover what they like beyond the familiar. You may even find a new favorite for your home brewing setup.

For anyone who has bought beans from a local roaster only to wonder what to do with them next, interactive workshops offer an opportunity to get more comfortable with the brewing process. You need not arrive with expensive equipment or a complicated morning routine. A little curiosity will do.

The direct-trade showcases are particularly worth seeking out. They offer a chance to connect with Philippine coffee producers and learn more about the people and work behind the beans. For a country with a rich coffee-growing tradition, knowing where our coffee comes from is part of understanding what makes it worth drinking.

Is KapeCon just for coffee geeks?

Not at all. The more interesting thing about the event is how it brings together people who approach coffee differently. Some will want to talk beans, processing, and brewing technique. Others will be looking for new local roasters, trying unfamiliar coffees, or enjoying the company of fellow enthusiasts.

The expanded lineup of coffee and coffee-adjacent partners also points to a broader view of coffee culture, one that extends beyond specialty cafés and equipment into the way people gather, work, eat, and spend their time.

You can arrive with a practiced palate or a perfectly ordinary love of iced coffee. Either way, there should be something to discover.