In another thread (I cannot seem to locate it) @PeiHua-Connie alerted us about the current availabilility of single origin Alishan coffee at McDonald’s here in Taiwan. I was curious about it and want to provide a short review about my experience drinking it.
Available as hot coffee or iced, it comes in at NT$120, more than the NT$90 promotion price mentioned by Connie. I selected the hot version twice (i.e. sampled on two separate days) to try to give it a fair assessment.
The first cup that I had was served piping hot, with the first few sips yielding a thin and frankly unimpressive taste. It got a bit better as it cooled down, but it still struck me as a one-note coffee—some high notes with little body or depth.
The second cup I had a few days later was a bit stronger, but still monotonous. I tried to think of a comparable coffee from elsewhere I have tried, and the closest comparison I could come up with is Kona, which is also (despite its fame) quite monotonous with little depth. But at least the best Konas have clarity and sweetness, I thought, which is lacking in the Alishan cups I tried. The aftertaste of the second cup was a bit muddy, a bit sticky, something like an Indonesian coffee without any of the body and depth such coffees also deliver.
I don’t regret sampling this coffee, and I applaud McDonald’s in Taiwan for giving us this opportunity to try it. But I do think that this coffee is—like the majority of Taiwan coffees I have tried—still unclear, even confused, in its identity. It flatters itself on the accompying cardboard coaster by comparing itself to oolong tea. I dislike Alishan’s high mountain oolong tea (it messes up my thinking, unlike the more richly caramelized tieguanyin teas I enjoy)—but at least it has a clear identity. With this coffee, such clarity remains elusive.
Guy