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Great Taste Coffee Makers

{{Use Philippine English|date=April 2023}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{More citations needed|date=April 2025}}

{{unreliable sources|date=November 2011}}

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{{Infobox NBA team

| name=Great Taste Coffee Makers

| founded=1975

| history= Presto Ice Cream (1975, 1977, 1988–1989, 1992)
N-Rich Coffee Creamers (1976, 1982)
Presto Fun Drinks (1980–1981)
Great Taste Discoverers (1978–1980, 1983)
Great Taste Coffee Makers (1982, 1983–1987)
Great Taste Instant Milk (1987–1988)
Presto Tivolis (1989–1991)
Tivoli Milk Masters (1991)

| colors=Great Taste Coffee
{{Color box|#FE5A1D}} {{Color box|white}} {{Color box|#80461B}} {{Color box|#D2B48C}}
{{Color box|#FE5A1D}} {{Color box|white}} {{Color box|#80461B}} {{Color box|#FFB612}} {{Color box|#D2B48C}}
Great Taste Milk
{{Color box|blue}} {{Color box|white}} {{Color box|yellow}}
Presto Fun Drinks
{{Color box|green}} {{Color box|#FE5A1D}}
Presto Ice Cream
{{Color box|blue}} {{Color box|white}}
Presto Tivoli
{{Color box|black}} {{Color box|yellow}} {{Color box|red}} {{Color box|white}}
{{Color box|blue}} {{Color box|yellow}} {{Color box|red}} {{Color box|white}}

| sponsor=CFC Corporation (now merged with Universal Robina Corporation)

| owner=John Gokongwei

| coach=Felicisimo Fajardo
Tony Genato
Nilo Verona
Alfonso Marquez
Baby Dalupan
Jimmy Mariano
Tommy Manotoc

| championships=6 championships

1984 Second All-Filipino

1984 Invitational

1985 Open

1985 All-Filipino

1987 All-Filipino

1990 All-Filipino

10 finals appearances

| dissolved=Sold in 1993

| 1_pattern_b=

| 1_body=

| 1_shorts=

| 1_title=Light uniform

| 2_pattern_b=

| 2_body=FF6600

| 2_shorts=FF6600

| 2_title=Dark uniform

}}

The Great Taste Coffee Makers were a basketball team that played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 1975 to 1992. It was one of the founding members of the PBA, the Asia's first and oldest professional league. The franchise was owned by CFC Corporation (now merged with Universal Robina Corporation) and named after its brand of instant coffee, Great Taste Coffee. The franchise also played under other CFC brands such as N-Rich, Presto and Tivoli.

The franchise won six PBA championships, mostly under coach Baby Dalupan.

In 1993, CFC sold its PBA franchise to Sta. Lucia Realty & Development, Inc., which absorbed several Presto players.

History

=Early years (1975–1978)=

While Great Taste was known to be a blockbuster and powerhouse team to those who got to watch the game in the early 1980s, this team was also one of the ragtag and also-ran teams of the 1970s. Not exactly blessed with the biggest names among the present set of players then, they did become competitive owing more on the sheer hearts of their players rather than talents. Having started in the MICAA under coach Narciso Bernardo in 1973, notable players who donned the Presto/Great Taste jersey in the 70s included the Aldanese brothers Noli and Jing (who replaced Fely Fajardo as coach in the second conference of 1976), Manny Paner, Florendo Ritualo (the father of Ren-Ren), Danny Pribhdas (the father of Danilo, Jr of the UST Growling Tigers), and Johnny Revilla. Coaches included Tony Genato (Quinito Henson's father in law), Chino Marquinez (who also acted as team manager) and Nilo Verona.

=Breakthrough (1979–1982)=

In the second conference of 1979, the ballclub finally cracked into the final four behind imports Jim Hearns and Darryl Smith, the following year with the acquisition of Jun Papa and Estoy Estrada, the team made it anew in the semifinals of the Open Conference. In the mid-season of 1981, they signed center-forwards Manny Victorino and Joel Banal, that same year, the team had their first player to win an award in Rafael "Cho' Sison, voted the 1981 Rookie of the Year. The final conference of both 1981 and 1982 season had the ballclub figured in a playoff for a finals berth but fell short each time.

=The Ricardo Brown era (1983–1987)=

The real big turnaround started when they were able to secure the services of then Filipino-American rookie Ricardo Brown. It is said that Brown was practically stolen by Great Taste team manager Ignacio Gotao from Crispa owner Danny Floro, who has already formalized a commitment from the "Quick Brown Fox" to play for the Redmanizers. But as fate would have it, Brown was secured for the Coffeemakers, along with Bogs Adornado from the disbanded U-Tex Wranglers, and with Manny Victorino (then considered one of 3 elite centers in the league, alongside Ramon Fernandez and Abet Guidaben), Joel Banal, Alejo Alolor, Joy Carpio, and import Norman Black. Great Taste finally enter into the championship picture, losing to the Billy Ray Bates-led Crispa in the second conference finals. The real sweetener happen in the third conference with the entry of Coach Baby Dalupan for the team – first as team consultant behind his godson Jimmy Mariano, only to secure the top coaching job when Mariano was "fired" for his ill-advised statement "we didn't intend to win.” This was said after a shocking loss to lowly Galerie Dominique since Great Taste was already secured of a slot in the next round.

Now a powerful and potent squad, Great Taste became the toast of the PBA in the following year, acquiring players such as Arnie Tuadles, Frankie Lim and Chito Loyzaga and in 1985, signing Abe King and Willie Pearson. The Coffeemakers dominated the mid-1980s, winning four straight championships between 1984 and 1985, with a strong local lineup and a more potent imports in the likes of Joe Binion and Jeff Collins.

=The Allan Caidic era (1987–1992)=

After a crownless season in 1986, the team decided to trade two of its key players; Manny Victorino and Jimmy Manansala to Shell for Philip Cezar and Bernie Fabiosa, and with Atoy Co joining the team following the disbandment of the Manila Beer franchise, the three former Crispa players had a reunion of sorts with Great Taste with their coach Baby Dalupan. {{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tGwVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gwsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3629%2C3037159|title=PBA preview '87: Great Taste|publisher=Manila Standard}}

Add to this the blue chip rookie in the draft in the name of Allan Caidic and they became the team to beat. Great Taste regains the All-Filipino crown that year and won their fifth championship. The following season, their franchise player Ricardo Brown left the team and signed with San Miguel Beer.

Presto won its final championship in 1990 featuring the superstar veteran Allan Caidic (named Most Valuable Player of the Year) and rookies Gerald Esplana (named Rookie of the Year) and Apet Jao (the top draft pick). More blue chip players came their way including Bong Hawkins in 1991 and Vergel Meneses in 1992 until the team eventually disbanded at the end of the 1992 season with Sta. Lucia buying the franchise rights including its rights for the first pick of the 1993 draft.

Season-by-season records

class="toccolours" style="float: right; font-size: 95%;"
style="background-color: #F2F2F2; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA;" | Legend
{{color box|#FFE6BD}} Champion

----{{color box|#D0E7FF}} Runner-up

----{{color box|#DDFFDD}} Third place

class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"
rowspan=2|Seasonrowspan=2|Conferencerowspan=2|Team namecolspan=3|Overall recordrowspan=2|Finals
WL%
rowspan=3| 1975First Conferencerowspan=3| Presto Ice Cream Makersrowspan=3| 6rowspan=3| 18rowspan=3| .250
Second Conference
All-Philippine
rowspan=3| 1976First Conferencerowspan=3| N-Richrowspan=3| 3rowspan=3| 29rowspan=3| .094
Second Conference
All-Philippine
rowspan=3| 1977All-Filipino Conferencerowspan=3| Presto Ice Cream Makersrowspan=3| 15rowspan=3| 30rowspan=3| .333
Open Conference
Invitational Conference
rowspan=3| 1978All-Filipino Conferencerowspan=9| Great Taste Coffee Makersrowspan=3| 5rowspan=3| 23rowspan=3| .179
Open Conference
Invitational Conference
rowspan=3| 1979All-Filipino Conferencerowspan=3| 21rowspan=3| 26rowspan=3| .447
bgcolor=#DDFFDD

|Open Conference

Invitational Conference
rowspan=3| 1980Open Conferencerowspan=3| 14rowspan=3| 25rowspan=3| .359
Invitational Conference
All-Filipino Conference
rowspan=2| 1981Open Conferencerowspan=2| Presto Ice Cream Makersrowspan=2| 17rowspan=2| 26rowspan=2| .395
bgcolor=#DDFFDD

|Reinforced Filipino

rowspan=3| 1982Reinforced Filipinorowspan=2|Great Taste Coffee Makersrowspan=3| 19rowspan=3| 27rowspan=3| .413
Invitational Conference
Open ConferenceN-Rich
bgcolor=#DDFFDD

|bgcolor=white rowspan=3| 1983

All-Filipino Conferencebgcolor=white rowspan=16|Great Taste Coffee Makersbgcolor=white rowspan=3| 38bgcolor=white rowspan=3| 25bgcolor=white rowspan=3| .603
bgcolor=#D0E7FF

|Reinforced Filipino

Crispa 3, Great Taste 2
bgcolor=#D0E7FF

|Open Conference

Crispa 3, Great Taste 0
bgcolor=

|bgcolor=white rowspan=3| 1984

First All-Filipino Conferencebgcolor=white rowspan=3| 39bgcolor=white rowspan=3| 14bgcolor=white rowspan=3| .736
bgcolor=#FFE6BD

|Second All-Filipino Conference

Great Taste 3, Beer Hausen 0
bgcolor=#FFE6BD

|Invitational Conference

Great Taste 3, Crispa 2
bgcolor=#FFE6BD

|bgcolor=white rowspan=3| 1985

Open Conferencebgcolor=white rowspan=3| 44bgcolor=white rowspan=3| 27bgcolor=white rowspan=3| .620Great Taste 4, Magnolia 2
bgcolor=#FFE6BD

|All-Filipino Conference

Great Taste 3, Shell 1
Reinforced Conference
bgcolor=#D0E7FF

|bgcolor=white rowspan=3| 1986

Reinforced Conferencebgcolor=white rowspan=3|36bgcolor=white rowspan=3|28bgcolor=white rowspan=3| .563Tanduay 4, Great Taste 2
All-Filipino Conference
bgcolor=#DDFFDD

|Open Conference

bgcolor=#D0E7FF

|bgcolor=white rowspan=3| 1987

Open Conferencebgcolor=white rowspan=3| 35bgcolor=white rowspan=3| 25bgcolor=white rowspan=3| .583Tanduay 4, Great Taste 1
bgcolor=#FFE6BD

|All-Filipino Conference

Great Taste 3, Hills Bros. 0
Reinforced Conference
rowspan=3| 1988Open Conferencerowspan=3| 26rowspan=3| 34rowspan=3| .433
All-Filipino Conferencerowspan=6|Presto Ice Cream Makers
Third Conference
rowspan=3| 1989Open Conferencerowspan=3| 18rowspan=3| 32rowspan=3| .360
All-Filipino Conference
Reinforced Conference
rowspan=3| 1990First Conferencerowspan=3| 40rowspan=3| 29rowspan=3| .580
bgcolor=#FFE6BD

|All-Filipino Conference

Presto TivolisPresto 4, Purefoods 3
Third Conference
rowspan=3| 1991First Conferencerowspan=3|Presto Tivolirowspan=3| 21rowspan=3| 29rowspan=3| .420
All-Filipino Conference
Third Conference
rowspan=3| 1992First Conferencerowspan=3|Presto Ice Cream Kingsrowspan=3| 11rowspan=3| 29rowspan=3| .275
All-Filipino Conference
Third Conference
colspan=3|Overall record || 408 || 476 || .462 || 6 championships

Awards

=Individual awards=

class=wikitable
style="{{PBA color cell|Great Taste Coffee Makers}}" | PBA Most Valuable Player

! style="{{PBA color cell|Great Taste Coffee Makers}}" | PBA Rookie of the Year Award

! style="{{PBA color cell|Great Taste Coffee Makers}}" | PBA All-Defensive Team

valign="top" |

| valign="top" |

| valign="top" |

style="{{PBA color cell|Great Taste Coffee Makers}}" | PBA Mythical First Team

! style="{{PBA color cell|Great Taste Coffee Makers}}" | PBA Mythical Second Team

! style="{{PBA color cell|Great Taste Coffee Makers}}" | PBA Most Improved Player

valign="top" |

| valign="top" |

| valign="top" |

style="{{PBA color cell|Great Taste Coffee Makers}}" | PBA Best Import

! style="{{PBA color cell|Great Taste Coffee Makers}}" | PBA Scoring Leader

! style="{{PBA color cell|Great Taste Coffee Makers}}" |

valign="top" |

  • Jeff Collins – 1984 Invitational

| valign="top" |

| valign="top" |

=All-Star Weekend=

class=wikitable
style="{{PBA color cell|Great Taste Coffee Makers}}" | All Star MVP

! style="{{PBA color cell|Great Taste Coffee Makers}}" | Obstacle Challenge

! style="{{PBA color cell|Great Taste Coffee Makers}}" | Three-point Shootout

! style="{{PBA color cell|Great Taste Coffee Makers}}" | Slam Dunk Contest

valign="top" |

| valign="top" |

| valign="top" |

| valign="top" |

Notable players

=PBA Greatest players=

In alphabetical order. Members of PBA Hall of Fame are in boldface.

  • William "Bogs" Adornado #33
  • Ricardo Brown #23 – "The Quick Brown Fox" named 1985 PBA Most Valuable Player
  • Allan Caidic #8 – "The Triggerman" named 1987 PBA Rookie of the Year & 1990 PBA Most Valuable Player
  • Philip Cezar #18 – "The Scholar"
  • Atoy Co #60 and #6 – "The Fortune Cookie" played his final years in the league with the team.
  • Bernie Fabiosa #15 – "The Sultan of Swipe"
  • Vergel Meneses #4 – "The Aerial Voyager" was the #1 draft pick of the 1992 draft.
  • Manny Paner #5 & #13 – Became the highest paid Filipino player in 1977, signed a 4-year contract called for P 8,000 a month.

=Other notable players=

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

  • Jose "Jing" Aldanese #4
  • Manuel "Noli" Aldanese #11
  • Teodocio "Teddy" Alfarero #20+
  • Alejo "Pongkee" Alolor #2
  • Leonardo "Leo" Aranzaso #9
  • Cesar "Kia" Arpilleda #17
  • Woodrow Balani #19
  • Joel Banal #26, #6, #7 & #28
  • Danilo "Danny" Basilan #14
  • Santiago "Sonny" Cabatu #5
  • Bernardo "Joy" Carpio #29 – "The Scavenger"
  • Israel "Ric" Catacutan #15
  • Jacinto" Bong" Chua #8 & #9+
  • Aurelio "Boy" Clarino #56
  • Fortunato "Atoy" Co Jr. #6 #60 – "The Fortune Cookie"
  • Arturo "Bai" Cristobal #7
  • Carlito "Lito" Cruz #12
  • Oliveros "Nonoy" Dalman #3
  • Ramon "Onchie" Dela Cruz #9
  • Danilo "Danny" De Guzman #10
  • Valeriano "Botchok" Delos Santos #10+
  • Hernani "Nani Demegillo #15
  • Jaime "Jimmy" Dungca #6
  • Gerald "Gerry" Esplana #14 – 1990 PBA Rookie of the Year – "Mr. Cool"
  • Ernesto "Estoy" Estrada+ #6 & #44
  • Reynaldo "Rey" Franco #20
  • Wilfredo "Willy" Generalao #42 – "The General"
  • Filomeno "Fil" Gulfin #8
  • Noel Guzman #8
  • Rene "Bong" Hawkins Jr. #16 – "The Hawk"
  • Arthur "Art" Herrera #8
  • Federico "Padim" Israel #17
  • Peter "Apet" Jao #5 – #1 draft pick of 1990 PBA Draft

{{col-2}} – “The Howitser"

  • Alfredo "Pido" Jarencio #25 – "The Fireman"
  • Woodrow "Totoy" Jaymalin #5
  • Alfonso "Al" Jovero #12
  • Abraham "Abe" King #6 #66 – "The Chairman of the Board"
  • Francisco "Frankie" Lim #22
  • Joaquin "Chito" Loyzaga #41 – "The Dynamite"
  • Jaime "Jimmy" Manansala #11
  • Joselito "Joey" Marquez #66
  • Manuel "Totoy" Marquez #71
  • Eduardo "Eddieboy" Mendoza #10
  • Lawrence "Tata" Merced #18
  • Jose Cadel Mosqueda #12
  • Ruben "Benjie" Pablo #6
  • Adriano "Jun" Papa, Jr. #55+
  • Leonardo "Leo" Paguntalan #16
  • Willie Pearson #33
  • Danilo "Danny" Pribhdas, Jr+(father of Danilo, Jr. of the UST Growling Tigers) #13
  • Zaldy Realubit #28
  • Johnny Revilla #16+
  • Florendo "Dante" Ritualo #20 / #11+
  • Ranulfo "Noni" Robles #16
  • Ricafort "Ric" Roces #15
  • Jose "Joe" Roslin #19 & #14
  • Rafael "Cho" Sison #12
  • Loreto" Ato"Tolentino #7
  • Tomasito "Sito" Tolentino #5
  • Oscar "Oca" Tuazon #19
  • Arnulfo "Arnie Tuadles" #11 & #22+
  • Redentor "Red" Vicente, Sr. #45
  • Manny Victorino #1

{{col-end}}

=Imports=

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

Coaches

Team managers

  • Ignacio Gotao
  • Chino Marquinez

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/sports/content/217851/the-quick-brown-fox-s-untold-stories-part-ii-triple-b-and-the-great-taste-dynasty/story/ The Quick Brown Fox's Untold Stories]@GMA News Online

{{s-start}}

{{succession box

| before = (start)

| after = Sta. Lucia Realtors

| title = PBA teams genealogies

| years = 1975–1992

}}

{{s-end}}

{{PBAdefunct}}

{{navboxes|title=PBA finals champions

|list=

{{Great Taste Coffee Makers 1984 PBA Second All-Filipino Conference Champions}}

{{Great Taste Coffee Makers 1984 PBA Invitational Conference Champions}}

{{Great Taste Coffee Makers 1985 PBA Open Conference Champions}}

{{Great Taste Coffee Makers 1985 PBA All-Filipino Conference Champions}}

{{Great Taste Coffee Makers 1987 PBA All-Filipino Conference Champions}}

{{Presto Tivolis 1990 PBA All-Filipino Conference Champions}}

}}

Category:Basketball teams established in 1975

Category:Basketball teams disestablished in 1992

Category:Defunct Philippine Basketball Association teams

Category:1975 establishments in the Philippines

Category:1992 disestablishments in the Philippines