Last time, I brought about 11 bags of coffee beans roasted by Nordic roastery like Coffee Collective of Denmark, Kaffa Roastery of Finland, Good Life Coffee of Finland.
This time I will be cupping coffee beans roasted in Taiwan with my friends in Helsinki below is my list of coffee beans.
Brief introduction to the coffee scene in Taiwan. (Disclaimer: I am by no means authority in this so I am just sharing my understanding.)
1. The third wave or specialty coffee scene started roughly around 2002 when Taiwan entered WTO(World Trade Organization) which came with good things and bad things and one of the good things were the lowered tax on imported professional espresso machine and roasters, thus, gave birth to third wave coffee trend in big cities of Taiwan, for example, in Taipei with population around 4 millions, there are at least 20 to 30 self roasting coffee shops. (It also gave me some troubles to decide which beans to bring since I have to rely on my experience and preference to decide. )
2. One big characteristics of Taiwan coffee scene is that it is very diverse and individual. There are big chains selling commercial volume coffee and smaller volume specialty coffee at the same time, however, majority of the third wave coffee market still dominated by independent roastery which means the owners of the coffee shop might consist only two to three people, roaster, barista and sometimes they are the same person.
3. I do believe that the culinary taste or culture would also reflect on the roasting preference. For example, the culinary culture is quite similar to Chinese cooking and South East Asian style (We have substantial immigrants from Vietnam and Thailand.) In terms of coffee, the roaster tend to develop a bit further to give a thicker or heavier taste in coffee. When in comparison to Nordic approach it might be a good point to keep in mind.
Further reading:
A. The Taiwanese Coffee Scene (It has good categorization of development of coffee in Taiwan though I disagree a bit on espresso part.)
1. Wolong Coffee Studio Panama Esmeralda Special 2016 ES-W-6 Roasted
Washed 100 g (From Kaohsiung city) Roasted January 6th
The roaster just won a roasting competition in Taiwan who is a young and talented woman.
https://www.facebook.com/wolongcoffee/
http://www.coffeereview.com/all-reviews/?roaster=Wolong+Coffee+Studio
2. Ethiopia Guji #36 Gidde station Natural Roasted 2017/Jan/5 226 g Cafe Lulu from Taichung city
One of the biggest coffee roastery in Taiwan with experience in roasting and green beans business for many years.
http://www.cafelulu.com.tw/products/guji
3. Geisha Village #4 Natural Ethiopia Bench-Maji Roasted Jan 4 2017 100g By Group 19 Taipei city
4. Miguel Moreno Washed Santa Barbara Honduras Catuai Roasted Jan 8th 200g By Group 19 Taipei city
Group 19 is an independent roaster with previous experience in Sweden and now back in Taiwan aiming to bring Nordic style into Taiwanese market.
http://group19coffee.wixsite.com/group19coffee
5.Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Biloya Washed G1 Jan 01 by ho soo tsai cafe at Kaohsiung city
6. Kenya AA Nyeri Washed roasted Jan 2 by ho soo tsai cafe at Kaohsiung city
A small coffee place in southern most city in Taiwan, barista and roaster is a good friend of mine and very talented and eager to share his passion for coffee with people around him.
https://www.facebook.com/hstcoffee/
7. Panama Elida Washewd 2017 Jan 9 by Dao Nan Guan 120g Tainan city
https://www.facebook.com/daonanguan/?fref=ts
some pictures from other blogger.
Small place in the oldest city of Tainan, the owner was Aeropress champion of Taiwan few years ago and in this shop there is no espresso machine. There is only specialty coffee made with Aeropress or siphon. This is where i sucked into the wonderful labyrinth of third wave coffee and it also has great audio system!
8. Ethiopia Sidamo Bonbe Natural roasted Jan 3rd Pharos Coffee Taipei
Pharos Coffee 引路咖啡
Beautiful interior design and they roast their own coffee beans as well.
9. Burundi Long Miles Roasted 13 Jan Coffee sweet Taipei
https://www.beanhunter.com/taipei/coffee-sweet/reviews
Weirdly enough it does not has its own website but has substantial customers and fame that keeps it running. It is a small coffee place and they roast their own coffee, if you enter this place the first line on the menu would say we only serve light roasted coffee if you cant take it please go some where else.
10.Ethiopia Bebeka Estate Roasted Jan 11 Coffee Whispering at Tainan city
All eleven coffee beans and i am going to have the first cupping at Andante coffee shop at Helsinki. Let's see what will comes out of it.
This time I will be cupping coffee beans roasted in Taiwan with my friends in Helsinki below is my list of coffee beans.
Brief introduction to the coffee scene in Taiwan. (Disclaimer: I am by no means authority in this so I am just sharing my understanding.)
1. The third wave or specialty coffee scene started roughly around 2002 when Taiwan entered WTO(World Trade Organization) which came with good things and bad things and one of the good things were the lowered tax on imported professional espresso machine and roasters, thus, gave birth to third wave coffee trend in big cities of Taiwan, for example, in Taipei with population around 4 millions, there are at least 20 to 30 self roasting coffee shops. (It also gave me some troubles to decide which beans to bring since I have to rely on my experience and preference to decide. )
2. One big characteristics of Taiwan coffee scene is that it is very diverse and individual. There are big chains selling commercial volume coffee and smaller volume specialty coffee at the same time, however, majority of the third wave coffee market still dominated by independent roastery which means the owners of the coffee shop might consist only two to three people, roaster, barista and sometimes they are the same person.
3. I do believe that the culinary taste or culture would also reflect on the roasting preference. For example, the culinary culture is quite similar to Chinese cooking and South East Asian style (We have substantial immigrants from Vietnam and Thailand.) In terms of coffee, the roaster tend to develop a bit further to give a thicker or heavier taste in coffee. When in comparison to Nordic approach it might be a good point to keep in mind.
Further reading:
A. The Taiwanese Coffee Scene (It has good categorization of development of coffee in Taiwan though I disagree a bit on espresso part.)
Washed 100 g (From Kaohsiung city) Roasted January 6th
The roaster just won a roasting competition in Taiwan who is a young and talented woman.
https://www.facebook.com/wolongcoffee/
http://www.coffeereview.com/all-reviews/?roaster=Wolong+Coffee+Studio
One of the biggest coffee roastery in Taiwan with experience in roasting and green beans business for many years.
http://www.cafelulu.com.tw/products/guji
3. Geisha Village #4 Natural Ethiopia Bench-Maji Roasted Jan 4 2017 100g By Group 19 Taipei city
4. Miguel Moreno Washed Santa Barbara Honduras Catuai Roasted Jan 8th 200g By Group 19 Taipei city
Group 19 is an independent roaster with previous experience in Sweden and now back in Taiwan aiming to bring Nordic style into Taiwanese market.
http://group19coffee.wixsite.com/group19coffee
6. Kenya AA Nyeri Washed roasted Jan 2 by ho soo tsai cafe at Kaohsiung city
A small coffee place in southern most city in Taiwan, barista and roaster is a good friend of mine and very talented and eager to share his passion for coffee with people around him.
https://www.facebook.com/hstcoffee/
https://www.facebook.com/daonanguan/?fref=ts
some pictures from other blogger.
8. Ethiopia Sidamo Bonbe Natural roasted Jan 3rd Pharos Coffee Taipei
Pharos Coffee 引路咖啡
Beautiful interior design and they roast their own coffee beans as well.
Weirdly enough it does not has its own website but has substantial customers and fame that keeps it running. It is a small coffee place and they roast their own coffee, if you enter this place the first line on the menu would say we only serve light roasted coffee if you cant take it please go some where else.
10.Ethiopia Bebeka Estate Roasted Jan 11 Coffee Whispering at Tainan city
All eleven coffee beans and i am going to have the first cupping at Andante coffee shop at Helsinki. Let's see what will comes out of it.
