Specialty coffee in Taiwan
Specialty coffee in Taiwan leans toward light-roast filter, and Taipei's Berg Wu of Simple Kaffa won the World Barista Championship in 2016. Taiwanese coffee drinkers have a strong pour-over habit, and the island grows coffee too: Simple Kaffa serves Taiwanese coffee from the Xin-She region east of Taichung. Taiwan's competition record is strong, with Berg Wu's barista title and Jacky Lai's 2014 World Coffee Roasting Championship, and cafés such as Impct Coffee and The Normal serve premium single origins by the cup.
The cafés listed here are in Taipei, spread across Da'an, Datong, Zhongshan, Xinyi, Zhongzheng and Wanhua districts, with Da'an the largest cluster. Specialty coffee also reaches beyond the capital to Kaohsiung, Hualien and Taitung.
Roasters include CABAL Fresh Roasted Coffee. Expect hand-brewed filter as a normal order, light roasts, honey-processed and other unusual lots, and the chance to taste coffee grown in Taiwan itself.
