Taiwan – the motherland of bubble tea. To be honest with you, traveling through Taiwan helped us cut down our coffee consumption by about 85%. We always opted for tea – especially Oolong. Taiwanese Oolong tea is something special. It’s fragrant, delicate, it feels like you are sipping down tea atop the mountains overlooking the valleys and sea. It’s truly special and deserves its own post.
However, if you like coffee, Taiwan has lots to offer as well. Like many others, we were sifting through countless skeptical reviews making sure that we were actually going to a great place – we are picky like that.
We have been to many different cafés over a month of traveling around the jade island and here are, in no particular order, some of our favourites:
- Barista Ray, Tainan
- 珈琲 方島 Fangdao coffee, Jiaoxi
- You Shi Twilight Cafe, Jioufen
- more coming soon …
Barista Ray, Tainan
We were on our way to Hayashi Department Store when Cătă asked – ‘do you want to try guava coffee?’.
My first instinct was to say no, it sounded unappetising. Orange americano, sure. Guava AND coffee? Okay, I guess.
We then found ourselves queueing in front of a small blue and white window shop with small tables basking in the sun. Many others were there for the same thing the guava coffee. It was a combination of greatness. It wasn’t guava americano but rather guava juice + espresso shot(s). The taste was different. It was refreshing. It was the combination that you didn’t think would go well together, but it did. It makes your brain go what did you just feed me?
I can see why some people LOVE it because I do too. Give it a try if you are nearby. We liked it so much that we visited Super Ray, another one of their coffee shops the next day.
Oh, did I tell you about the guava pieces that come with the coffee? Delish.
Location: Barista Ray, Tainan
珈琲 方島 Fangdao Coffee, Jiaoxi
Fangdao Coffee was our chosen stop to write our many postcards.
Archie is the sole barista and owner of this cozy four-tables café hidden in a small ally in the hot spring town of Jiaoxi. Archie welcomed us to his space and introduced everything on the menu. I wasn’t so keen on coffee then so I opted for the tea. I was glad I did – it was one of the best teas I had in Taiwan.
Cătă ordered brown sugar latte. The coffee itself also came in cubes dropped in the latte that would slowly melt away. Archie said that this way customers can enjoy the best coffee for longer without it being diluted by water from ice cubes.
My tea, on the other hand, was carefully syphoned – a method I hadn’t seen being used for tea before. It was fascinating to watch the water slowly sifting through, surging, and the tea coming out perfectly brewed. I had two different types of tea that day, both amazing and fragrant in their own right. The one thing I regret was not writing down their names.
Have I mentioned that Fangdao also serves wine? We noticed later that most locals visited this café for wine. Don’t worry – Cătă ordered a glass of pomelo wine with coffee ice cubes.
‘Almost like a sweet desert wine with a strong citrus flavour from the pomelo. Worked really well with the coffee ice cubes’. – Cǎtǎ
You see, visiting Fangdao was not just about the coffee, the tea, the wine, it was also for the conversation. I remember Archer sharing his passion for using the syphon to brew tea, the reasons behind the blends, why the coffee cubes and the difference between Japanese and Taiwanese tea.
Check this place out if you are in Jiaoxi. It is on the higher end of the price range compared to other coffee shops in the area, but you won’t get similar experiences or be able to engross in conversation like this anywhere else.
We really loved the place and hope that one day we get to visit Archer and enjoy his company and his coffee again.
IG: 珈琲.方島
Location: 珈琲 方島 Fangdao Coffee, Jiaoxi
You Shi Twilight Cafe, Jioufen
I’ll admit. I was there for the chief cat Yoshi. Too bad he was on a nap duty upstairs when we visited.
The café is at the bottom of the staircase that leads to the busy corner of Jioufen where everyone gathers for restrooms and the scenic view next to it.
It is also next to the innovative café that almost everyone goes to when visiting Jioufen. We wrote another batch of postcards while watching the world go by. Tour groups after groups walked past this as it is at the corner overlooking the misty mountains and the sea. We stayed there for three drinks and two cakes.
We sampled their Sea Salt Cream Coffee Latte with its velvety smooth milk foam and a drizzle of cocoa. A nice hit of caffeine & sugar to keep you going up and down the stairs of Jioufen.
What I loved about You Shi Twilight Cafe was their desserts. The drinks were great, but the desserts were surprisingly good. We had the best earl grey cheesecake and panna cotta with, of course, brown sugar.
Location: 酉時暮光 You Shi Twilight, Jioufen
We visited Taiwan in October 2024. This article was written in retrospect from memories and sensory experiences that we felt first hand. We will keep updating this article as we have visited many places during our 4 weeks in Taiwan!
We do not get paid, sponsored, or coffees to write this. We don’t even have an affiliation, yet. If you want to sponsor our journey, please consider buying us a coffee here. You never know, it may end up in the next article!
Thank you so much!
Pinn & Cǎtǎ
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