[quote=“Muzha Man”][quote=“Mr He”]Coffee trees do give fruit here in Taiwan, actually.
You may try to go to Gukeng in order to see the plantations. Taiwan grown coffee is expensive though.[/quote]
Not that bad. And very flavorful. I’ve been drinkign Taiwan coffee for a few months now. Very nice.
Chris, there’s a shop right by your house that sells it.[/quote]
Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but most “Taiwan grown” coffee is only partly grown. It’s very normal for them to add a little bit of flavorful good quality Columbian coffee into the mix. They don’t add much, only some 95%. Taiwan grown coffee is hideously expensive, and they only have some 20 acres under cultivation, so nearly all the coffee sold as Taiwanese coffee is mainly from south America.
There was a rucus some time ago about it, with a piece in Apple Daily. The growing/roasting cooperative told the media that it was still Taiwanese coffee, as the Columbian beans were only added for taste, and they were still roasted in Taiwan. (Like 90% of the beans sold here are). The guys at Apple had a field day over this - the Taiwan coffe scam etc.
Perhaps if you go to Gukeng, you might be lucky, but the taste is likely to dissapoint.
Ironman - you like light roasts, so might want to buy a popcorn popper next time in the US.
I will sort you with raw beans - there are cheap beans, however if you are looking at Kona or Blue Mountain, it won’t be cheap - have seen a kilo of the best Kona or Blue Mountain selling for the equvivalent of 100 US.
Most specialist coffee beans shops will have them, try the one at the bottom of the hill. If you prefer to do your shopping online, this might help(Show them to knickers):
[quote=“Mr He”][quote=“Muzha Man”][quote=“Mr He”]Coffee trees do give fruit here in Taiwan, actually.
You may try to go to Gukeng in order to see the plantations. Taiwan grown coffee is expensive though.[/quote]
Not that bad. And very flavorful. I’ve been drinkign Taiwan coffee for a few months now. Very nice.
Chris, there’s a shop right by your house that sells it.[/quote]
Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but most “Taiwan grown” coffee is only partly grown. It’s very normal for them to add a little bit of flavorful good quality Columbian coffee into the mix. They don’t add much, only some 95%. Taiwan grown coffee is hideously expensive, and they only have some 20 acres under cultivation, so nearly all the coffee sold as Taiwanese coffee is mainly from south America.
There was a rucus some time ago about it, with a piece in Apple Daily. The growing/roasting cooperative told the media that it was still Taiwanese coffee, as the Columbian beans were only added for taste, and they were still roasted in Taiwan. (Like 90% of the beans sold here are). The guys at Apple had a field day over this - the Taiwan coffe scam etc.
Perhaps if you go to Gukeng, you might be lucky, but the taste is likely to dissapoint.[/quote]
Oh, well. Columbian it is. Damn tasty either way and now I don’t have to worry that I am drinking cadmium coffee every day.
I went to Macau and bought 12 packs of gourmet coffee roasted and ready to put on the coffee machine (I like the way Sical (Portuguese company owned by Nestle) roasts their coffees). Had luck they were destocking them for new products and bought the 250Gr packets at 15HKD. They are Papua New Guinea (for Aromatic taste), Kenya (strong taste) and Vera Cruz (for smooth taste). Mind you, their normal blend is based on this 3 coffee beans.
[quote=“Muzha Man”][quote=“Mr He”][quote=“Muzha Man”][quote=“Mr He”]Coffee trees do give fruit here in Taiwan, actually.
You may try to go to Gukeng in order to see the plantations. Taiwan grown coffee is expensive though.[/quote]
Not that bad. And very flavorful. I’ve been drinkign Taiwan coffee for a few months now. Very nice.
Chris, there’s a shop right by your house that sells it.[/quote]
Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but most “Taiwan grown” coffee is only partly grown. It’s very normal for them to add a little bit of flavorful good quality Columbian coffee into the mix. They don’t add much, only some 95%. Taiwan grown coffee is hideously expensive, and they only have some 20 acres under cultivation, so nearly all the coffee sold as Taiwanese coffee is mainly from south America.
There was a rucus some time ago about it, with a piece in Apple Daily. The growing/roasting cooperative told the media that it was still Taiwanese coffee, as the Columbian beans were only added for taste, and they were still roasted in Taiwan. (Like 90% of the beans sold here are). The guys at Apple had a field day over this - the Taiwan coffe scam etc.
Perhaps if you go to Gukeng, you might be lucky, but the taste is likely to dissapoint.[/quote]
Oh, well. Columbian it is. Damn tasty either way and now I don’t have to worry that I am drinking cadmium coffee every day.[/quote]
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I was wondering about this very topic. So the “Gukeng” coffee I bought at the store is largely Colombian and I shouldn’t bother stopping by Gukeng on my way south to purchase any of their coffee as presents for coffee loving friends and family. This is because what actual “Gukeng” coffee there is is expensive and tastes bad. MuchaMan has conceded that he is probably drinking the Colombian blend. Do I have this right?
There will be Gukeng grown coffee in it. Not that much, though.
That said, I have seen people planting coffee bushes in the mountains behind Nanao, perhaps some of that will end up as “Gukeng” coffee one day. (Or the next big thing will be Nanao coffee, who knows.)
I don’t know how much you pay, however I would go for a decent columbia or santos somewhere else. Same taste for 1/2 of the price.
mr. brown gets my vote for best chain now, unlike so many other places including some big names in my opinion you can drink the americano black, in fact it’s really good. accordingly the latte is also good, haven’t tried their cappucino or espresso yet.
Has anyone else heard about Taiwan’s “Monkey coffee”? I saw something on TV a couple months back about someone selling coffee beans that had been gnawed on by the local Macagues. I want some. Coffee, not monkeys - nasty little creatures.
[quote=“merge”]I think Dante is actually pretty good, myself.
Has anyone else heard about Taiwan’s “Monkey coffee”? I saw something on TV a couple months back about someone selling coffee beans that had been gnawed on by the local Macagues. I want some.[/quote]
[quote=“merge”][quote=“merge”]I think Dante is actually pretty good, myself.
Has anyone else heard about Taiwan’s “Monkey coffee”? I saw something on TV a couple months back about someone selling coffee beans that had been gnawed on by the local Macagues. I want some.[/quote]
Am I the only one who saw this?[/quote]
I saw it - however thanks but no thanks. They have something similar in Indonesia, where it’s civets or an animal like that actually eating the coffee berries beans and all, and then the they shit the “cleaned” beans out on the forest floor, where the lcoals gather them for sale to gullible farangs. That’s said to be a delicacy too, however I for one am not up for it.