No more Crown, Hon Hai bought it, changed the name. Donutes are better anyways, many of them now too I guess second to Louisa in this region. Interesting Donutes has open more new shops overseas than in Taipei.
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Crown opened a bunch in Taipei, weren’t successful and they shutdown. Taipei rent is probably insane and I know in this business that it’s mostly about location, the corner stores especially.
The other big problem in Taipei… It’s population is actually dropping and aging rapidly.
Mr Brown business model is the one that always gets me. Most of their coffeeshops are barely making money I would say but they probably own the buildings are just hoping to make enough to cover the loans on the buildings (they have many prominent locations in Taipei especially ).
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get yourself a cup of morning brown! (contains strong language probably nsfw)
Population who sleep in Taipei is dropping, but population who work/eat/drink in Taipei is not.
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That doesn’t make much sense.
The youth population is crashing in Taiwan.
Hey old guys drink coffee too! 
My new fave for observing this is the OK Lao shop on Heping East Road just east of Dunhua. Delicious Lao coffee with not a young hipster in sight!
Guy
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but every day more Louisa Coffee shops
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Think you forgot a comma.
Hey, old guys drink coffee too!
Hey old guys, drink coffee too!
Hey old guys drink, coffee too!
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I approve of all the above.
Guy
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Are coffee prices at Louisa the same at all stores? Like NT$45 for a long black here in the South . I am not sure it’s same in Taipei? Makes me wonder how they can make money in the high rent areas like on a High street Taipei vs. say Pingtung (Which seems to have the same number of customers)
Some of the special Louisa branches (example: the one embedded in Daan Forest Park Station on the Taipei MRT Red Line) have slightly higher prices than the other third wave shops in Taipei and in Hsinchu.
Based on my experience in Kaohsiung, I don’t think their prices are lower there, but I have not visited enough branches to be certain about this.
Guy
I am just starting to get a glimpse of what these guys are about.
No need to fool around with all the expensive options in this shop. Their focus is on Lao coffee, hence the name of the business. At least at the Heping East Road branch in Taipei, the Lao latte is a dynamic interesting cup—and it’s only NT$50!
The way the shop is set up and the way the workers go about their business is classic Taiwanese. Roasting is apparently done in Taichung. Visiting this shop is like taking a short trip out of Taipei. 
Guy
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No it was not a “bad batch.” As the following thread testifies, that’s really how they roll! 
Guy
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Can’t beat the Barista chain. Not many of them but good coffee
They appear to be in retreat.
One example among many: the old Barista shop in the Chung Hsing complex at Nangang Software Park has been replaced by a more affordable and more beautifully laid out third wave Louisa store.
Barista beware!
Guy
I haven’t seen a Barista branch in a long while. Mildly surprised they’re still around.
Their Indian latte was my go-to beverage for a long time.
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Louisa is so bad. Not Mr Brown bad, but worse than Cama and SBucks imo. Their brews are too bitter. They have some odd after taste. And their baked goods aren’t as good as SBucks.
I used to never go there, but lately I’m really nostalgic for the no frills workman like brews at Dunkin Donuts. Korea has DDs, how come we don’t?
Also, this skit is hilarious.
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There was some here, seems Mr. Donuts beat out DD to the point they left Taiwan. Mr. D to me has DD like coffee, the Donuts are very different but made for Taiwan tastes and style , ie cute marketing.
I think I prefer Mr D donuts overall (can’t beat the old fashioned). But I do miss DD’s Boston cremes.
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