Try Agnes B. cafe. one word: panini.
You guys are amazing. You’re so knowledgeable about so many things.
Here’s so more amazing facts.
You heard about Alishan high mountain tea right?
Well you can also get Alishan high mountain coffee, but the amount is limited due to damage from typhoon Morakat.
Which came first to Taiwan, tea or coffee?
Coffee, introduced over 400 years ago by the Dutch.
Now back to my Betelnut coffee…one part betelnut, ten parts coffee, 100 per cent buzz.
[quote=“headhonchoII”]Here’s so more amazing facts.
You heard about Alishan high mountain tea right?
Well you can also get Alishan high mountain coffee, but the amount is limited due to damage from typhoon Morakat.
Which came first to Taiwan, tea or coffee?
Coffee, introduced over 400 years ago by the Dutch.
Now back to my Betelnut coffee…one part betelnut, ten parts coffee, 100 per cent buzz.[/quote]
I have found the best way to replicate the Betelnut taste,is just to eat Germolene Ointment. It tastes slightly better. :lick:
1 Like
Lugou Cafe on Dihua Jie has Alishan coffee. 2nd floor. Really great atmosphere too.
HHII, where did you read that about the Dutch bringing coffee to Taiwan? I heard that in a report about Gukeng but I haven’t seen it elsewhere.
Golden Bee Coffee Beans (金蜜蜂咖啡豆) is where I get my fresh roasted beans in Nankan near my house. Website. The roaster (the guy on the left in the photo) is knowledgeable and friendly.
[ul][li]Address: Taoyuan County, Luzhu Township, Nankan Rd. Sec. 1 #374 (桃園縣蘆竹鄉南崁路一段374號) Note: If you use the Chinese to do a Google Map search, it’ll take you to the wrong place. Search in English for the correction location (True location: http://goo.gl/maps/j6ber)[/li][/ul]
Caldi Coffee (卡爾地咖啡) in Taoyuan City is a small, relaxing café that also sells beans. Website.
[ul][li]Address: Taoyuan City, Dahua 5th St. #27 (桃園市大華五街27號) Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/Frr3p[/li][/ul]
10:10 Coffee (10點10分咖啡) in Taoyuan City. Website
[ul][li]Address: Taoyuan City, Zhongzheng Rd. #690 (桃園巿中正路690號). Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/LJGU1 [/li][/ul]
Shen Café (燊咖啡) Another intimate café in Taoyuan City that roasts its own beans. Review Website.
[ul]Address: Taoyuan City, Xinpu 6th St. #138 (桃園縣桃園市新埔六街138號). Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/uoWBE[/ul]
The ones from 鄒族園 (Tsou Tribe Fields) is pretty great, but they are expensive, and like high mountain tea, not great for the environment… but i guess they need to make a living up there…
[quote=“hansioux”][quote=“headhonchoII”]
Well you can also get Alishan high mountain coffee, but the amount is limited due to damage from typhoon Morakat.
[/quote]
The ones from 鄒族園 (Tsou Tribe Fields) is pretty great, but they are expensive, and like high mountain tea, not great for the environment… but i guess they need to make a living up there…[/quote]
the tea that the tea farmers grow today is later introduced and cultivated. however when the Dutch got here, there were indigenous tea trees around the Sun Moon Lake area. The Japanese picked Sun Moon Lake area to grow their Asam tea based on this fact.
[quote=“Mucha Man”]Lugou Cafe on Dihua Jie has Alishan coffee. 2nd floor. Really great atmosphere too.
HHII, where did you read that about the Dutch bringing coffee to Taiwan? I heard that in a report about Gukeng but I haven’t seen it elsewhere.[/quote]
I saw a TV program on the aboriginal TV channel last night about aboriginals who grow coffee in their village in Alishan. They claimed that the Dutch brought in the first coffee plants 400 years ago. This makes a lot of sense when you know that the Dutch colony here were sent from the Dutch East India headquarters in Indonesia.
Interestingly the aboriginal farmer mentioned the coffee they grow was ‘Typica’ which is a sub-breed of ‘Arabica’. Looking at the history of the Dutch East India coffee plantations, Typica was indeed the first coffee breed that they used!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_pro … _Indonesia
Typica – this is the original cultivar introduced by the Dutch. Much of the Typica was lost in the late 1880s, when Coffee Leaf Rust swept through Indonesia. However, both the Bergandal and Sidikalang varieties of Typica can still be found in Sumatra, especially at higher altitudes.
However there is something unusual about this. The first coffee plantations only appeared in Indonesia at the end of the 17th century.
A lady mentioned that they had coffee trees in their village when they were young but chopped them down as they did not actually know how to make coffee. Only later when coffee became a popular drink in Taiwan did they start growing them again. Another aboriginal (different tribe) mentioned they used the coffee beans in their wedding ceremonies by placing it on their foreheads. That indicates to me that the aboriginals have been growing coffee trees for centuries but did not use them for the purpose they were originally imported for. The coffee bean is an attractive red colour and they were probably just eating them as a kind of dessert too. There’s always the possibility that Japanese tried to develop the coffee industry too way back.
…and so they did
taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar … 2003071194
It seems the Dutch may have first tried to grow coffee in Taiwan prior to Indonesia. If they had succeeded the world could be waking up to the smell of Formosa Coffee instead of Java!
Great previous post and finding HH. I learned something today about coffee on the Flob 
Great research, HHII.
Well it was mostly ‘TV’ research, hardly a chore 
.
Ah, in which case it is to be taken with a grain of salt. The TV claims I mean.
I think it’s very likely though, considering the Dutch introduced Jambu (蓮霧 MDR: Lian Wu, Holo: Lián-bū/Huan-kué-tsí (Foreigner’s fruit))
I mean if they were bored enough to introduce something like Jambu, why not introduce something that’s potentially profitable like coffee?
Yes indeed. But they didn’t really claim anything that wasn’t most likely true. For instance the guy from one tribe had no idea that the other tribe also kept coffee plants and used them for ceremonial decorations. None of them actually brewed coffee from the plants. Nor would they have likely known that Typica was an heirloom variety introduced by the Dutch hundreds of years ago. The Dutch worked closely with aboriginals, especially in the South of the island, and according to the article the Dutch first planted coffee in Yunlin in 1624.
fascinating.
Oh, no, I believe it is true broadly, just I would as I said, not be overly trusting of every detail on a TV show.
Gukeng is in Yunlin, and it is currently the coffee capital of Taiwan. They do claim there that the Dutch first planted coffee.
[quote=“shiadoa”]
Oh Dear!. I will try and carefully hide my Nescafe in the shopping basket at Costco and hang my head in shame at the Checkout. 
Have considered buying a good Coffee machine,but have no idea between them,regarding quality.[/quote]
Hey man. Just get yourself a French Press and a good quality grinder. Go to a local roaster (there are a few good ones in Taichung and I am sure heaps in Taipei) and get some freshly roasted beans. I am really liking central american beans now. Grind them up coarsely, put in 90 degree water and let sit for four minutes and plunge. You will never regret ridding yourself of the Nescafe habit again.
I have to agree. The best coffee flavors can be extracted with the simplest brewing methods! It’s far more important to pay attention to the beans, the water & the grinding than what brand of home espresso maker you should pay a million dollars for.
Too often people pay top $ for a great machine, then grind low grade robusta and wonder why their coffee tastes like poo. I think it’s a bit of a waste! You could use all that money to buy the tastiest coffee beans, and have the best coffee to boot.
I have to agree. The best coffee flavors can be extracted with the simplest brewing methods! It’s far more important to pay attention to the beans, the water & the grinding than what brand of home espresso maker you should pay a million dollars for.
Too often people pay top $ for a great machine, then grind low grade robusta and wonder why their coffee tastes like poo. I think it’s a bit of a waste! You could use all that money to buy the tastiest coffee beans, and have the best coffee to boot.[/quote]
That’s what I am talking about.
