We just celebrated our 10th year as a brand last May 2026 and thought it would be nice to write a newsletter series about the 10 lessons i’ve learnt over the 10 fruitful years.
No better way to kick this series off with this lesson i learnt from my dad: Relationships Matter. More than clients, make friends. It’s also apt this way since if you’re not familiar yet, before Jacob’s Well Chai, it’s just simply called “Dad’s drink” when we still had our shop in Apo St. QC called Testify Coffee and Rare Finds.
My dad was a salesman for my uncle and aunt’s garments business. Growing up, he’s always on the phone talking with his clients as if he wasn’t “selling” at all—parang tropa lang. Casual, familiar, warm. And what struck me most was how he seemed to be enjoying it a lot. He sounded light. At ease. Like work could be honest and still be fun. It almost didn’t matter whether he’s able to sell anything to the person he’s talking to, what matters most to him was he offered help.
Back then, I didn’t have the language for it, but I think I was watching a principle I’d end up building my own business life around:
Relationships matter: more than clients, make friends.
Later on in life, dad would pursue pastoral studies all the more perfecting his craft - not selling, but building bridges and nurturing relationships.
When I first brewed chai for Dad—fresh out of our ala third-wave café season—in our apartment in Apo St., QC, it wasn’t a product. It wasn’t a plan. It was care. Something warm I wanted someone I loved to drink (even though he’d always have it over iced).
And when I first served chai in our first café back in 2006—long before Jacob’s Well Chai was even a brand—it wasn’t even called chai. It wasn’t on the menu. Honestly, I didn’t think it was good enough that people would pay real money for it. It’s just Dad’s Drink.
That lesson didn’t just shape how Dad treated customers—it shaped how we treated the people beside us, too.
At Testify, we only opened from 6pm onwards after my shift at Bo’s Coffee. On weekends, Carl—who then helped us as part-time barista would already be preparing dad’s drink the very moment dad stepped into the shop. Carl was my right-hand guy during my time as a coffee guy at Bo’s Coffee. When I left Bo’s, I made it clear that I saw him as a friend. Fast forward 10 years we’d still catch up whenever we could, and if he ever faces crossroads, he’d reach out.
Just like with many good things, the chai couldn’t stay hidden under the guise of Dad’s drink forever—especially when you’re brewing from real spices. Regulars noticed. They got curious. They’d ask:
“What’s your dad drinking?”
I’d brush it off: It’s just something we made for him because he doesn’t drink black coffee (as what we were mostly just serving at that time)—it’s nothing.
But they persisted. And eventually I caved.
“It’s too good,” they said.
I still had doubts.
Until one of my best friends at the time who believed it was so good i had to package it and start supplying it to cafés—a kind encouragement that kept me busy over the last 10 years. Until we officially closed first client YDG Coffee who stuck with us despite several attempts of another chai concentrate to switch. Very good friends!
Looking back, that’s how Jacob’s Well Chai started: not through a grand launch, but through stories revolving around people i’m blessed to develop deep relationships with while following the model set by my dad.
Watching him do sales without sounding like a salesman.
Watching him treat clients like friends.
Watching him sound like he was having fun—because maybe friendship does that. It lightens the work. It makes the day feel human.
If there’s a contest about being the most content, my dad is definitely a strong contender of it.
And maybe that’s why Jacob’s Well Chai has always grown best through relationships that don’t feel like transactions.
But I also learned the hard way that friendship and business can collide. As with many things in life, developing relationships and friendships require wisdom.
Around year 7, I decided to share a commissary with a start-up grain milk producer. Months into the setup, I found him churning out products that were similar to ours. After calling him out several times—with him defending how it’s a different flavor anyway—I called it quits. Rumor has it he now distributes his own chai concentrate too.
Usually when friendship and business collides, I’d always choose the former—almost sometimes to a fault. But that season taught me something I’m still learning: relationship-first doesn’t mean wisdom-last. The best kind of friendship can hold truth, boundaries, and accountability without losing love.
Making friends and building relationships kept us going. And it has always been the reason I create what I create—not mainly to make sales, but to make meaningful connections. The beautiful thing about this endeavor is you get to cherish those connections while you build them, and somehow they keep coming back to you.
So on Father’s Day—and on our 10th year—this is one of the simplest thank yous I can offer:
Thanks, Dad, for showing me early that the best business is still just people being human with each other.
To our clients who turned friends and to all who’s helped us along the way, thank you for enjoying our chai—but more than that, thank you for your soul, and for your friendship.
P.S. Even as a fully grown adult, my dad is still one of my main sources of inspiration.
For a while, I could sense Dad’s insecurity about not finishing a college degree. But at 63—Dad is graduating, a full-fledged pastor with a Bachelor of Pastoral Ministry.
Dad, without you there’d be no “Dad’s Drink”—and therefore no Jacob’s Well Chai. I hope you never belittle the impact you’ve had in my life. This is for you!