Implanting a Taiwanese coffee culture

Ten years ago in Tungshan township (東山鄉), a small town in Tainan County, drinking a cup of coffee was a luxurious treat for foreigners. Four generations of farmers in the town drank tea daily, like most Taiwanese, but now making, sipping and talking about coffee has become a daily routine for most residents.

They visit each other, exchange ideas about growing coffee trees and roasting methods and compare harvests with each other. As a result, this small town has gained a reputation for coffee that has attracted TV crews, writers and broadcasters alike.

Taiwan is well known for growing rice, tea and tropical fruit, but it also has a history of growing coffee for more than two centuries. Taiwan is in a subtropical zone -- similar weather to most coffee-growing countries -- and has mountainous areas in which coffee does well, thriving on the fluctuations of temperature found at high altitudes. Tungshan is a mountainous area 800m to 1200m above sea level and is one of four coffee-growing areas in Taiwan.

Kuo Ya-tsong (郭雅聰) and his wife Shi Ling-lan (施玲蘭) are pioneers of growing coffee in Tungshan. Thirteen years ago they moved from Taipei and gradually become more involved in the

business.

"Each coffee tree was grown by my hands," said Kuo Ya-tsong. His coffee farm and garden is called Ta Chu Hua Chien (大鋤花間), meaning "the garden of big hoes" in Chinese. He said the coffee was entirely organic and had been for 13 years. "We insist on organic methods and an ecological way of farming," said Shi Ling-lan. "We hope to create a new coffee culture," she said.

The other three coffee-growing areas in Taiwan are: the Huisun Forest Farm (惠蓀林場) in Nantou; Hepao mountain (荷苞山) in Kukeng township, Yunlin County; and the Tungshan township of Tainan. The coffee farm in Huisun, about 11 hectares, belongs to National Chunghsin University and is mainly farmed for research purposes. Though the coffee from the private farms in Yunlin and Tainan is well known, only Tungshan can boast of its organic credentials.

Three areas all grow the Caffea Arabica plant. The are two stories regarding the origin of Taiwan's coffee growing. One says that 19th century British merchants brought some coffee plantlets from Manila and began growing coffee in northern Taiwan. Another story says the Japanese brought coffee to Taiwan in the early 20th century. The marketing of coffee was stopped because of World War II, when Taiwanese coffee farmers went back to rice-growing.

Now, because of Taiwan's fast-developing coffee drinking tendencies, coffee growing is back in business. "Tungshan is an interesting place because people who grow coffee don't usually have the habit of drinking coffee. But we do," said Shi Ling-lan, adding she and her husband are the "new immigrants within the island."

The couple used to work in the publishing business in Taipei. In 1991 they gave it up and went to the countryside looking for a new and rural life. The coffee in Ta Chu Hua Chien is not only organic, it is also roasted with innovative and precise roasting methods. Kuo's experienced hands have crafted a very smooth blend. Beside the coffee farm, the couple has also set up an "ecology classroom" which offers tourists a short walk around the mountain and aims to impart knowledge about local plants, snakes, eagles and pangolins. Shi occasionally offers classes to create handicrafts out of coffee.