I have been writing about the Taiwanese cafe scene for quite a while on Hive hence the title My favourite cafe Part 7. If you're interested in the previous posts, you can check out the links at the end of the post. (Ok, I know no one ever reads old post, but I wanted to add them here so it's all in one place)
This is going to be a nostalgic post from when I was living in Taiwan and used to frequent cafes all the time. There is an abundance of cafes in Taiwan. Starbucks is present of course, but why go there when it's no different from Starbucks anywhere around the world. There are a couple of local chains but they lack character. My favourite are the many independent cafes which is what I have been showcasing in the past. Today, I want to show another one, one that's very unique.
The café is called.... mmmm this place doesn't have an English name and I don't know what its Chinese name is as I don't know one of the word on the sign. I think it might be Cafe Pulse. Let's go with that. Before we go inside, I want to talk a bit about the red writing outside. If I recall correctly, the owner said there's been some ongoing dispute with the neighbour, something to do with the rights of the buildings. The neighbour has been making some unsound claims and try to kick the cafe owner out. When that failed, he decided to defame the cafe owner by hanging their dirty laundry in public. It looks ugly outside the cafe, but there's nothing the cafe owner can do about this other than ignore it.
Ok, let's go inside. You can see from the set up, this place is serious. They have their own roaster, a whole range of coffee accessories and filters, as well as all the coffee and beans on sale. My coffee knowledge is pretty limited but I think coffee lovers will love this place.
The way this cafe operates is pretty unique in three ways, I've never seen it anywhere else before. First, you pay an entrance fee of NTD200 which is around USD7 and you get bottomless coffee. Sound like a great deal? It is!! They open from 11am to 2am and you can stay as long as you want. Takeaway cost NTD100 per cup.
The second unique thing about this cafe is that there is no menu. You don't get to order what coffee to drink, and drink what you are served. And third, is the experience, that is most unique thing here. I learnt that the same coffee tastes different if you drink it out from different cups. This is the what this cafe is about, the experience. The first round of coffee is served in three different cups. A tall one made of clay, a round glass cup, and a porcelain one with a wider rim. The shape and height of the cup as well as the material it is made from will impact the taste, after taste and strength of the coffee. And true enough, even with my limited coffee palate, I could taste a difference!
Subsequent rounds are served in a little jug and you can choose your own cup, or all three again if you like. Each time, the staff would talk us through the coffee being served and its characteristcs. During my visit, I tasted two beans from Ethiopia, two from Salvador and a Brazilian. I know five sounds like a lot, but each were small jug size so it wasn't as if I drank five cups of full size coffee.
So you may wonder, how do they make a profit with bottomless servings? And therein lies the beauty of all this. First, operating expenses in Taiwan are not astonomically high, so the pressure to make profit is not as high as many other places. Second, how long can one sit in a cafe a day? And how many cups can you drink a day even if you love coffee? One will be have to be really sad if you stayed here for the full 14 hours they are open and kept on drinking coffee. And finally, sometimes if you run a business, you want to share your love with like minded people. If customers can truly appreciate coffee and the selection offered by the owner I reckon that brings more satisfaction to the owner than making money. And it is these customers that will not abuse the operation.
Have you ever been to these type of cafes before? And did you know drinking coffee from different cups will give a different flavour?
Previous My Favourite Cafe posts
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
I have an inkling feeling I may have posted about this before, but I can't find the post, so maybe it was on Facebook. If anyone comes across this place on my blog, please be assured this is written fresh and not recycled 😊