Dishes
Coffee
咖啡
Also called: 咖啡館 (café)
Tainan has a long coffee history and a deep café culture, from old second-floor cafés to modern espresso bars.
Photo: bryan... from Taipei, Taiwan, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: Tianmu peter, CC BY 3.0
Photo: fullfen666, CC BY-SA 2.0What it is
Coffee in Taiwan ranges from the strong, siphon-brewed style of the Japanese era to milder espresso drinks. Tainan's cafés often sit in old houses or up hidden stairways. Narrow Door Café (窄門咖啡館), open since 1991, is reached through a gap about 38 cm wide between two buildings.
Where it comes from
The British brought the first coffee plants to Tainan in 1884, and coffee plantations were set up under Japanese rule, when coffee was seen as modern. Wikipedia describes Tainan as still the heart of Taiwanese coffee culture.
How it is made
Japanese-era coffee was often brewed with a siphon and tasted strong and bitter. Espresso-based milk drinks spread later.
How to eat it
Drop in for an afternoon break between sights. Taiwan had more than 15,000 coffee shops by 2020, the year coffee drinking overtook tea for the first time.
Where to eat it in Kaohsiung
Sources