My second time in Taiwan and I see similar coffee situation as 3 years ago. Soooooo many awesome shops! There is a plethera of small batch roasters putting out amazing coffee. Almost all independent coffee shops roast their own coffee. There is variously levels of coffee nerdiness out there, but there is A LOT! Of course there are the usual recommendations like Fika Fika and Simple, but I found much better coffee at smaller, more chill spots.

Two that amazed me:
Home Roaster in Da'an
Coffee Space a few blocks from Zhongxiao Fuxing metro stop.

Coffee Space offered multiple anerobic processed as single origin espresso. I've never seen a shop do this. I don't know how they have them all dialed in on one grinder. Maybe they got lucky. Two different days I had super delicious and interesting shots.

Home Roaster was a really laid back retired guy who might be slow to serve you, because he really doesn't care, lol. But he really knew his beans and had some exceptional offerings. He suggested a Kona. I reluctantly accepted and have to say, first Kona I actually appreciate.

I really wish coffee cafes were like this back here in the States.

Agree, the indie specialty scene is much better than in the States. Had very good pourover even from an HWC Coffee in the underground MRT station.

In Tainan, Super Ray Coffee was terrific.

Thanks for posting these! Was just browsing around here and was surprised to see a post about Taiwan since I'm about to go around Taiwan for a month in March. I will definitely check these coffee shops out!

Hey everyone - are there any recommendations for Taichung? I'm going there for two weeks and would love to hear your thoughts on great cafes over there.

Yes, there seems to have been quite a few little coffees in Da'An/Dong-qu area, like you walk by and see a hole in a wall with a Linea PB
I haven't been in a while, but in Taipei I like:
- Simple Kaffa (run by former WBC winner, seems they've been expanding now and have many locations)
- Fika Fika (famous scandinavian-style place)
- Antipodean (australian style, great for brunch)

In Taichung, I really like Kophy, a very chill place with great pour overs. Their waffle is also fantastic!

Rickpatbrown wrote:My second time in Taiwan and I see similar coffee situation as 3 years ago. Soooooo many awesome shops! There is a plethera of small batch roasters putting out amazing coffee. Almost all independent coffee shops roast their own coffee.

Good to hear. I was there years ago. Didn't venture beyond Taipei since I had less than 24 hours between flights, but found Mountain Kids Coffee Roaster and had a very similar experience. I'm curious as to how they're able to survive and what the business environment looks like versus the U.S.

Rickpatbrown wrote:I really wish coffee cafes were like this back here in the States.

You and me both!