Taipei | Drink a good cup of coffee

August 2016 | Taipei

Many people love to travel to Taipei.

Because there is no language barrier in this place,

The food tastes good and the cost is not high.

I love all of the above, and there's also coffee.

Fika Fika Café

"Fika" is taken from the Swedish word for "drinking coffee", and the name of the store roughly means "relaxing time drinking coffee together". The owner, Chen Zhihuang, once went to Northern Europe to participate in the World Coffee Roasting Competition. In 2013, he won the Nordic Roasting Championship and became the only Chinese champion in this competition. Even Taiwan's national treasure baker, Wu Pao-chun, the world champion of European bread baking, chose to cooperate with him.

The single origin coffee here is extracted with a special single-head machine (long black), and then presented in a 1+1 (cold and heated) way. The iced version of Yirgacheffe I ordered has a distinct sweetness and aroma of pineapple trees. The hot drink is not as pleasant as the cold drink, which may be because Taipei is too hot...

The store's quiches, bagels, cakes, croissants and other light meals are also very popular. The environment uses white walls and wooden tables and chairs to create a cozy environment, and it is well versed in the Nordic minimalist style.

Fika Fika Cafe

1F, No. 33, Yitong Street, Zhongshan District, Taipei City

TEL: 02 2507-0633

Opening hours: Monday – Friday: 8:00 – 21:00; Saturday – Sunday: 10:00 – 21:00

Coffee Sweet

In order to find this shop, I walked 4.4 kilometers and took more than 8,000 steps on the streets of Taipei. When I found it, the cafe was full and I had to wait for a table. The shop mainly sells coffee beans from Ninty Plus, which has a wide variety of 90+ beans. I personally think the most worthwhile drink here is Panama's Geisha, which costs NT$200~300 (the bidding beans from Emerald Manor are only NT$250).

The shop's signature is Boss Gao, who is shy but has character and strength. Boss Gao only prepares 28 filter cloths for the siphon pot every day, and the daily limit for sale is 26 cups. Each cup is made with sincerity. Geisha has the sweetness of citrus and the charm of lemon tea, and the flavor will become more docile as the temperature drops.

Taking photos is not allowed in the store, especially Boss Gao doesn't like being photographed, so even if you are taking photos of coffee, you have to say hello to the boss. But I have to say that Boss Gao is very handsome when he is seriously making coffee! I heard that the tiramisu here is very, very, very delicious, girls can try it.

coffee sweet

No. 3, Lane 20, Lane 33, Section 1, Zhongshan North Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City

TEL: 02 2521-0631

Opening hours: Monday – Friday: 09:30 – 18:30; Saturday – Sunday: 15:00 – 21:00

Rufous Coffee Roasters

I have included this shop in many recommendations for Taipei specialty coffee, but interestingly, everyone's evaluation of it is "low-key, rarely advertised..." Obviously it is very popular, it is almost always on the recommended list of Taiwanese baristas! The shop opens at 1pm every day and closes on Thursdays. The shop name is said to be the owner's own name.

Rufous's boss, Yang Bozhi, is estimated to be over 185cm tall. He is "squeezed" behind the not-so-spacious bar counter, and rarely speaks. He seems to be indifferent to everything except coffee. Except for occasionally greeting regular customers, he spends the rest of his time concentrating on making coffee.

The machine he uses for hand brewing comes from Ireland. It can set a constant water injection height, water flow, and temperature, and then the barista controls the circles and time. This not only retains the barista's personality, but also minimizes possible human errors. Naturally, every cup of coffee is a fine product.

If you come here for the first time, you must try the "House Blend" that he personally selected and roasted. It is said that it is a blend of 6 to 7 beans with different flavors, including Guatemala, Colombia, Papua New Guinea, Costa Rica, Sumatra, Yemen, and Panama. The authoritative coffee evaluation organization Coffee Review rated it with 91 points. The roasting degree is relatively dark, with a Japanese style.

Rufous Coffee Roasters

No. 333, Section 2, Fuxing South Road, Da'an District, Taipei City

TEL：02 2736-6880

Business hours: 13:00 – 22:00, closed on Thursdays

Subway station: Technology Building Station

All Day Roasting Company

This shop was not originally on my list, but the world of coffee is so wonderful that you can chat with the barista in a coffee shop and then know from the barista which coffee shop you need to go to next. All Day has a very large space, but the number of seats is relatively small. Behind the wooden door is a very open patio with excellent lighting and can host various activities. The main area of ​​the coffee bar is in the very popular industrial style.

This 4-head steampunk coffee machine is definitely the treasure of the store. Many Taiwanese baristas think that equipment worth over one million is a luxury. Since July 2016, this store has tried to roast its own coffee beans and occasionally import coffee beans from all over the world. Each cup of coffee has its own exclusive ID card.

In All Day's eyes, there is always room for improvement, whether it is the most important coffee beans, the selection of brewing equipment, techniques, or the cafe's food, dessert flavors, decoration or theme style, or even its service methods, location and complexity. The coffee brewed with steampunk, in my opinion, is a blend of the flavors of French press and siphon extraction, and the taste is very clean. The desserts and light meals here are also worth a try.

All Day Roasting Company

No. 329, Yanshou Street, Songshan District, Taipei City

TEL：02 8787-4468

Opening hours: 10:00 – 23:00

Milkglider Latteartist Unity

This coffee shop has a Chinese name: Milk Glider. It can be said to be a trendy shop in Taipei's coffee world! When I first came here, it was around 10 o'clock in the morning. Although the shop was already open, the barista inside told me that they were not open yet. If I really want to drink coffee, I can go to Gabee. not far away to have a cup first. It was the first time I saw a coffee shop actively recommending customers to drink coffee next door. Later I learned that the person who spoke to me was Xie Weisheng, the champion of the 2015 Caffee Fest World Latte Art Competition in Tokyo.

The second time I came, I finally had their coffee. The store has two types of coffee beans, one is a classic blend, dark roasted; the other is a fruit blend, medium-light roasted. This latte art champion shop has two sizes: 6oz/12oz, and the price is only NT$100/120, which is said to be the price after the price increase. It is really a pleasant surprise to drink a cup of coffee made by a champion barista at such a low price.

Someone once said, "Latte art is a flashy trick." But I believe that good latte art is based on a good cup of coffee, because it is the art of combining milk and coffee. Just like Milkglider refuses to use fruit blends to make 12oz Latte, the barista will tell you that because with 12oz of milk, the coffee flavor of the fruit blend beans cannot suppress the milk flavor, which will destroy the flavor balance between coffee and milk.

There are five baristas in this shop: Xie Weisheng, Lin Huan, Mu Nianci, Lin Zixuan, Shang Yu, three of whom have won prizes in world-class latte art competitions, and the youngest of the five baristas is only 19 years old. I got this group photo from their website.

Milkglider Latteartist Unity

No. 36, 1F, Lane 19, Lane 160, Section 3, Minquan East Road, Songshan District, Taipei City

TEL: 02 2712-3080

Opening hours: 11:00 – 21:00

The Lobby of Simple Kaffa

At first, I didn't know the address clearly, so I had to look for this cafe for a long time, mainly because it was located on the underground first floor of a building, which was too hidden. However, when I found it, the store was already full of people, and even in the high temperature of over 30 degrees, the outdoor area was also full. This is because the owner here is Wu Zelin, who won the TBC (WCE World Cup Coffee Master Taiwan Trial) championship for two consecutive years and is also the champion of this year's WBC World Coffee Masters.

With so many halos on its head, it naturally attracts many coffee lovers to come and make a pilgrimage. I first ordered my personal favorite sun-dried Yirga, which has a very obvious red fruit flavor. Even after the coffee has cooled, it still performs well. I even think it is better to drink it iced. The store has a very special "white beer coffee", which is made of lightly roasted boutique coffee beans with carbon dioxide, rich foam and a beer-like taste.

It was a bit of a pity that the world champion was not in the store that day, and the baristas were all female baristas. I have to mention that the handmade pastries here are very delicious. My personal recommendation is the matcha roll. Also, the toilet in this cafe requires an electronic password. You need to ask the staff for the password before going.

the lobby of simple kaffa

B1, No. 48, Lane 177, Section 1, Dunhua South Road, Da'an District, Taipei City

TEL: 02 8771-1127

Opening hours: Sunday to Thursday: 12:30 – 21:30; Friday and Saturday: 12:30 – 22:00

Subway station: Zhongxiao Dunhua Station

GABEE.

This shop is not far from Milkglider. The name "GABEE" means "coffee" in Taiwanese Hokkien, and the "." at the end is a homophone for "shop". The soul of the shop is Mr. Lin Dongyuan, who is known as the best latte art artist in Taiwan. He entered the industry in 1997, won the Taiwan championship in 2004, published a book in 2005, represented Taiwan in the WBC in 2007, and started to coach Taiwanese players in the WBC in 2008...

Unfortunately, he was not in the store that day, so we could not drink the coffee made by this great man. Fortunately, there are many choices of single products, and customers can choose to use: AeroPress/Smart Cup/Italian SOE to make it. I personally feel that the Smart Cup method is average, and after comprehensive consideration, I chose AeroPress.

One of the things that GABEE. is famous for is that they directly contact the origin and select and purchase micro-batch coffee beans, so it is not difficult to find some specialty coffees that you can't drink elsewhere. I personally continued to choose Yirgacheffe, this time it was a native variety, sun-dried, and made with an AeroPress. I can only say one word: sweet!

GABEE.

No. 21, Lane 113, Section 3, Minsheng East Road, Songshan District, Taipei City

TEL: 02 2713-8772

Opening hours: Sunday – Thursday: 09:00 – 22:00; Friday – Saturday: 09:00 – 23:00

Here are some barista-recommended shops:

E61 Coffee Shop

Address: No. 200, Anle Road, Yonghe District, New Taipei City, Taipei City

This shop in New Taipei City is open only 5 days a week, at 3pm, with no seats and long queues. Its signature dish is black sugar latte. The barista who recommended it to me said: If you haven't tried E61's black sugar latte, you haven't tasted black sugar latte in Taiwan.

Ruins Coffee Roasters

Address: No. 242, Section 3, Muzha Road, Taipei City, Taiwan

I talked to a barista about lever coffee machines. Aurora Coffee House in Guangzhou used to have a red three-head lever coffee machine (the shop has closed down). He said that there is also one in Taiwan, although it seems to be a single-head one. He then gave me the name and address of the shop. It is a bit far from the city, so those who like to drink espresso can go and look for it.

Fengda Coffee

Address: No. 42, Chengdu Road, Wanhua District, Taipei City

Located near the Ximending business district, it opened in the 1950s and is one of the earliest coffee shops in Taiwan. It still maintains very traditional coffee products, dark roasted + siphon coffee. If you like nostalgia, you may want to go and find it. It is probably similar to the Old Tree Coffee in Taichung...

4. Mano Caffé

Address: No. 3, Lane 134, Section 2, Zhongxiao East Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City

This shop is jointly run by Taiwan's coffee champion, Hou Guoquan, and several coffee lovers. The name of the shop is based on the 4M golden principles of making Italian coffee, emphasizing the freshness of coffee beans, correct grinding procedures, and professional technology.

Taipei has more than 1,000 coffee shops.

There are still so many good coffees to be discovered...

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