In the Philippines, Kape Barako or "stud coffee" is the name for the coffee brewed from the Liberica bean. To brew Kape Barako there, the bean's grounds get boiled in water and then strained into a cup, similar to Cowboy Coffee. Because it is certainly made to be strong and thick, a man's ability to tolerate its intensity is a sign of a man's virility. "Barakos" are traditionally the local "tough guys". When Liberica was more commonly cultivated in the Philippines, men would come together in coffee houses to challenge each other in games of chess while sipping from their black, thick Kapang Barako brew.

Liberica coffee is actually a mild coffee, but its flavor has such depth and darkness to it that coffee lover who also loves all the robust, strong things in life can not get enough of it even though there are those who say that the Liberica bean's flavor is just too strident for their tastes. Liberica is known for "ripening in the cup"; that is, if you pour it and sip of it while it's hot but then let it cool down, when you taste it again it will have something of a different (but no less pleasurable) taste. The texture of the coffee becomes somewhat smoother while the flavor turns a little sweeter if cooled for approximately 15 minutes.

The Liberica bean is variable in size but larger than the other major species of coffee beans. It grows on a very tall shrub that appears more like a tree than a bush. Those who gather the fruits to get the beans must stand on ladders to do their work. The raw beans of Liberica coffee fruits are almond-shaped with a wide and erratic split down their centers. According to HAA Nicholls, MD of London, writing in 1881, the Liberica coffee shrub has leaves that are substantially larger than those of the Arabica shrub, one of the two most cultured coffee plants in the world, and "it flowers for several months, so that flowers and berries maybe found on the same plant, and berries are twice the size of the ordinary coffee bean. quality, for weeks, an important feature where it may be difficult to procure the labor necessary for speedy gathering. "