Sorry, DP. 
Yep, had super great coffee at Tamsui yesterday, just made by a simple filter (and of course great beans and spring water they collect from Yangmingshan).
Cafe is Frank and Sam’s Cafe Salon at the Shell Museum across from the Mrt. The Shell Museum is a collection of really handsome brick warehouses that Shell Oil leased in the Qing Dynasty and held on to until recently when they donated the land to a heritage society. The cafe just open at the back and in addition to a stylish interior, has an outdoor deck overlooking the river and Guanyinshan and that little fishing boat area. Great coffee in an outstanding location. 
[quote=“Mucha Man”]Yep, had super great coffee at Tamsui yesterday, just made by a simple filter (and of course great beans and spring water they collect from Yangming Shan).
Cafe is Frank and Sam’s Cafe Salon at the Shell Museum across from the MRT … The cafe just open at the back and in addition to a stylish interior, has an outdoor deck overlooking the river and Guanyinshan and that little fishing boat area. Great coffee in an outstanding location. [/quote]
I live in Danshui and I have never even noticed this place. Thanks for the tip - will have a look for it.
(There’s a Shell Museum across from the MRT?!)
[quote=“lostinasia”][quote=“Muzha Man”]Yep, had super great coffee at Tamsui yesterday, just made by a simple filter (and of course great beans and spring water they collect from Yangming Shan).
Cafe is Frank and Sam’s Cafe Salon at the Shell Museum across from the MRT … The cafe just open at the back and in addition to a stylish interior, has an outdoor deck overlooking the river and Guanyinshan and that little fishing boat area. Great coffee in an outstanding location. [/quote]
I live in Danshui and I have never even noticed this place. Thanks for the tip - will have a look for it.
(There’s a Shell Museum across from the MRT?!)[/quote]
It only opened 2 months ago.
Yep, to the museum. Head left across the park when you exit the MRT and follow the bike path around the inlet. You will see the entrance to the collection of old warehouses. The Shell Museum (again, Shell Oil not little seaside things) is at the back as is the cafe. It’s really not much to be honest, but the setting is great. Last time I was there the first warehouse was loaded with antiquities for action.
I think MM mentioned Cama earlier in the thread. The Cama-crack is legit, way better than Starbucks and not even half the price. It compares favorably with some of the good coffee I’ve had back in Portland and Seattle. For the OP, I remember seeing one on the main drag in Nankan last time I went to Costco.
There are plenty of other good places, many of them even better, but Cama is a franchise that is easy to recognize and is a reliable source of excellent coffee.
HHII, when you mentioned watching TV, was it online or on the actually TV. Would like to watch those programs if possible.
The program I saw was on the aboriginal TV channel and it has been repeated since then, I’ll look online to see if I can find anything.
good coffee grows here as well. not as specialized and vast as the tea industry, but lots of coffee be grown in the mountains.
Apart from coffee shops, where can you actually buy coffee beans to use for morning coffee at home? Back in the UK I used to order either pre-ground or actual beans from an online business called HasBean, but I just hit ground in Tainan and the only place I’ve seen coffee beans I can buy so far is in the local Carrefour’s - and I’d rather get something a bit more fresh and less mass-produced.
Places to get the beans in Taipei would be appreciated too, since I’ll be moving there in the next month or so. I don’t have a grinder, so some place that either sell it ground or grinds it for you (to be used in a stove-top Moka pot) would be good.
Lots of places around Taipei. Alley 243 Jihua St just south of Yongkang Park near Daan Park has a good shop that roasts and sells beans. Family Roasters I think it is called.
Fongda just south of ximen mrt on Chengdu Rd sells a wide range of fresh beans. Their brazilian bourbon is excellent as a morning coffee.
[quote=“garygibson”]Apart from coffee shops, where can you actually buy coffee beans to use for morning coffee at home? Back in the UK I used to order either pre-ground or actual beans from an online business called HasBean, but I just hit ground in Tainan and the only place I’ve seen coffee beans I can buy so far is in the local Carrefour’s - and I’d rather get something a bit more fresh and less mass-produced.
Places to get the beans in Taipei would be appreciated too, since I’ll be moving there in the next month or so. I don’t have a grinder, so some place that either sell it ground or grinds it for you (to be used in a stove-top Moka pot) would be good.[/quote]
When i arrived in Taipei, coffee was kind of a drama. Coming from south European coffee culture, i was finding simply outrageous to pay 150-200 NTD for a burning milk pool with a bit of over extracted bad coffee.
Preparing it at home was no better deal, beans are overpriced and often picked and roasted months ago. Coffee in Taiwan (and most Asia thanks to Starbucks) is more a lifestyle statement than an ordinary necessity.
I tried all possible dealers (in Taipei), wholesale, coffee shops and small coffee dealers.
These are the best two options i found for buying good, freshly roasted beans:
A central Cama Café coffee shop: I mean central because they are more likely to sell more, and therefore, roast it more often. The home roast mix is good enough but way too pricey.
Fong-Da Coffee in Ximen: They are the most recognised option and they deserve it. They speak english and they sell A LOT which means they have a continuous supply of fresh roast. The price is bad for western standards… but not-so-bad for Taipei, the dark expresso mix is 320 / pound and it is pretty good… and they have three options more for 290 / pound that are just ok.
With a Porlex manual grinder (they are japanese made, so pretty affordable here) and a simple moka pot i get very decent results.
Regular coffee is not $150-200. Not even in Starbucks.
Sadly this has indeed become the price point at many (if not most) independent coffee shops around the university district. Coming from the west coast of North America, I find this price point ridiculous and will take the MRT to cheaper districts for coffee (Ximending for the incomparable Fong Da; and even to some terrific independent shops like Adelaide located within striking distance of Shuanglian Station).
Guy
That waterfront place in Danshui near the MRT station - the one in the old Shell factory, or whatever it is - sells black coffee for 160NTD and up (their lattes are cheaper). I’m trusting them that it’s good stuff, but to be honest I think the difference is kind of wasted on my palate. So yeah, I concur that the “boutique” places seem to be pricing themselves in the 150-200 range. The chains, or low-end shops, are of course cheaper.
I always blamed those coffee prices in Xindian on high rent or tourist appeal.
That waterfront place in Danshui near the MRT station - the one in the old Shell factory, or whatever it is - sells black coffee for 160NTD and up (their lattes are cheaper). I’m trusting them that it’s good stuff, but to be honest I think the difference is kind of wasted on my palate. So yeah, I concur that the “boutique” places seem to be pricing themselves in the 150-200 range. The chains, or low-end shops, are of course cheaper.[/quote]
That place uses high quality beans, which they roast, and brews their coffee in a slow labor intensive way with water they hand collect from a spring on Yangmingshan. So yeah, worth it.
Yes, the boutique places are charging $160-200 for coffee. But again high quality beans, often single origin. Their regular coffees are cheaper and of course you have the takeaway places for $40-50 which are everywhere now. Some even have a few seats.
But the poster above was not talking about the boutiques as far as I could tell. Or as icon suggested he was talking about crap places in tourist areas.
I wish I could sell coffee for $150/cup - down in KHH its a fair bit cheaper.
A nice Mandheling-Mocca blend can be bought for under $250/lb direct from local roasters.
Even is you pay $300 for a half pound of Yirgacheffe at Cama, you’ll get 10 pour-over coffees from it at $30 cost each.
Places that charge $160 are making HUGE profits.
IMG_5619 by madlybackwards, on Flickr
[quote=“Ktownboy”]
Places that charge $160 are making HUGE profits.[/quote]
You really think so? Those coffees take 5 minutes to make so a single person can make less than $2000 in sales an hour. Out of that must come cost of beans, labor, rent, electricity. A d people aren’t gulping those coffees down. They are lingering for an hour or more.
500% markup is pretty damn good in most businesses which also have those other costs.( $30 beans sold for $150 )
How else can the insane number of coffee shops opening in the past few years be explained? There’s money in them there beans!
A markup of 4-5 times is normal for alcohol and there is little to pouring a drink unless it’s a complex cocktail.