JAMES CHEN, boss of FikaFikaCafe in Taiwan

One of the hot news in the world boutique coffee industry in 2016 is the fact that Taiwan's Wu Zelin won the world barista championship. A lot of media have paid attention to the new star, especially his unique extraction method and his coffee Panama Finca Deborah Geisha.

However, few people know who made the coffee beans used by the champion. (some people think Wu Zelin baked the beans himself.)

This is the unknown hero behind the 2016 World Barista Competition, the boss of Fika Fika Caf é, who began to reclaim Taiwan's boutique coffee market from an early stage. BlackWaterIssue interviewed him.

Q) Please introduce yourself

James) Hello, everyone! I am the founder of Taipei FikaFikaCafe. My job is to be a baker. I spend most of my time next to the roaster.

Q) how do you start making coffee?

James) I joined the coffee industry in 1999. At that time, especially in Asia, fine coffee was a very strange thing. At that time, I had access to the sweetmaria raw bean website in the United States through the Internet. The raw beans sold on their website are very special, and their names have never been heard of.

So I bought their beans and started baking boutique coffee beans. Then I set up my own small trading company and imported boutique coffee. Because many people didn't know what boutique coffee was at that time, I talked to others about roasting through online forums and slowly promoted boutique coffee.

Q) you are the champion of the 2013 Nordic Coffee roasting Competition. How do you go to Nordic to participate in the baking contest?

James) many years ago, I inadvertently developed a baking style. And found that this is very similar to the Nordic style. But the body I baked is thicker than the Nordic one. So I specially went to Nordic to take part in the baking competition to see what they thought of my coffee. As a result, he won the fourth place in 12 years and the championship in 13 years.

Q) what kind of machine is the roaster used now?

James) san franciscan roaster. It controls the airflow very well. So I continued to use it.

San franciscan roaster, Sorce: http://midnightsuncoffeeroasters.com/scenes

Q) how do you learn to bake?

James) self-study. At that time, there was little information and knowledge about baking. Therefore, it takes a lot of time and energy to learn the relevant knowledge.

The coffee theory we developed ourselves is completely different from CSAA or SCAE.

If I have the opportunity, I hope to publish these theories and knowledge to share with you and discuss them together.

Q) I was impressed that the last time we visited FikaFika, we asked a barista a very in-depth question. But she answered very clearly. How do you educate baristas?

James) We have our own education system. From the beginning, I will train every barista. Not according to the standards and theories of SCAA or SCAE, but according to our own content.

For example, the SCAA cup meter is not enough for us, it is too limited. So we have our own watch.

The same is true of baking, 8 baking degrees and Agtron chromaticity are not enough. We have another distinction between baking, which we call frequency. Although it has the same depth, it has different taste with different frequency. The five flavors (sweet, sour, bitter and salty) shown in high frequency and low frequency are completely different. Baristas are trained in this way to more accurately control the five flavors in the coffee.

About raising beans, everyone has different opinions. Some say it takes three days, others say it takes seven days, and so on. We decide the time to raise beans according to the baking frequency.

Q) Taiwan's boutique coffee market and culture are very mature. What do you think is the reason?

James) Taiwan is an island. I think the islanders on the island have a tendency to pursue professionalism. Moreover, Taiwanese are tea drinkers and are very particular about the taste of drinks.

Q) what are the plans for the future?

James) is preparing to open a second store. The second one will have a 30kg roaster. Tasting packages are also available, such as coffee drinks and light meals.

Q) what do you want customers to feel at fikafika?

James) get spiritual replenishment. Customers don't need to take coffee seriously. We put our own technology behind and let the guests only enjoy it.

So in addition to black coffee, we also attach importance to the development of new coffee drinks, including black sugar coffee. Black sugar is a specialty of Taiwan, and the black sugar we use is not bought outside, but made by ourselves. The flavor of the black sugar goes well with the coffee.

We have a slogan: "Coffee gourmet", which takes coffee as a delicacy. We believe that coffee is also a kind of delicious food.

▲ black sugar latte

Q) finally, please say something to BlackWaterIssue readers.

James) hopes to communicate with you and discuss coffee with each other one day. I'm looking forward to it!