Coffee Tour in China (3) Taiwan

The history of growing coffee in Taiwan has been 300 years since it was introduced when the Dutch occupied Taiwan (1626 AD, at the end of the Ming Dynasty), but it has not been popularized for various reasons. During the reign of Guang Xu in the Qing Dynasty, a British businessman from Deji Foreign Company, while travelling to and from the mainland and India, found that his temporary settlement in Taiwan was similar to that in South Asia and Central and South America, and that he might be able to promote coffee growth. so in the 10th year of Guang Xu, a hundred coffee seedlings were transplanted from Manila to a family surnamed Yang in Taipei and planted in Haishan Township, Taipei County, but because the seedlings were transported by sea for a long time. In addition, due to many negative factors such as poor packaging and management, most of them died after planting, and there were only ten trees left to grow, but do not underestimate these ten. In the future, these ten million coffee trees in Taiwan were all born by these ten trees, which were the ancestors of Taiwan's founding. The following year, the British tea merchant imported coffee seeds, but failed again because of poor germination. After a period of time, the seedlings were re-imported and planted by Yang in the Wenshan area. This time, they finally succeeded. Since then, more than 3,000 plants have been cultivated and planted. These more than 3,000 plants can be called the first coffee garden in Taiwan, but unfortunately, three years later, because workers were hired to weed, there was not much left after a fire happened carelessly.

Coffee flowers and fruits in Huisun Forest Farm

After the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese occupied Taiwan and spared no effort to promote coffee with high economic value. It began to collect and introduce coffee in 1901, and it took 40 years until 1942, from the trial planting stage to an area of more than 1,000 hectares. In 1901, Tian Daisang, a technician at the Government House in Taiwan, introduced Javanese varieties and planted them in Kenting, with good results; they were officially harvested in 1904. Later, more varieties were introduced and extended to Taitung, Hualien, and Kaohsiung. In 1919, the Chiayi Agricultural Experimental Institute (now Chiayi Agricultural Experimental Institute) collected all the varieties from Hengchun and other places, planted in the institute, and carried out research and investigation. In 1928, Taiwan's coffee was tested and sold to Japan and was well received, so the planting area became larger and larger, and it began to be operated as an enterprise. in 1936, the Huisun Forest Farm of Chung Hsing University also began to grow coffee. By 1942, the coffee area of the whole island had reached more than 1000 hectares, which was the heyday of coffee growth. later, when the Pacific War broke out, agriculture focused on growing grain, and most coffee gardens were converted, but in 1953, there were only 4.9hectares left.

The Huashan area of Yunlin Gukeng Township is the producing area of Gukeng coffee, setting off a trend of drinking "Taiwan Gukeng coffee".

According to records, after the introduction of coffee beans into the Government House of Taiwan, Taitung, Mizuho, Kaohsiung, Yunlin Gukeng and Nantou Huisun Forest Farm were selected for trial planting. Among them, Gukeng Township, formerly known as "an Gukeng", began to plant a large number of coffee in Hebao Mountain in Gukeng because of its good soil quality and drainage. "Arabica" coffee, covering an area of 300 hectares, was sent to the Governor's House as a tribute to Japan. At that time, it was regarded as an important cash crop for the paying emperor, and it gained the reputation of "imperial coffee" in the Gabi Mountains (Coffee Mountain). At that time, Hui Sun Farm and Mizuho Farm were known as the three major coffee farms in Taiwan. So in the era of Japanese occupation, Taiwan was already an exporter of coffee.

Gukeng Coffee from Hebao Mountain, Huashan area, Gukeng Township

With the end of the Pacific War, Taiwan returned to the embrace of the Chinese people, but because the Japanese, the largest consumer group, also left Taiwan, and because of the prosperity of Chinese tea culture, coffee was not popular in the agricultural society and was gradually replaced by other crops. coupled with the failure to continue to promote, most of the original coffee plantations have been abandoned. In recent years, the trend of drinking coffee has gradually blown from Europe, America and Japan to Taiwan, and the original Gukeng and other places have begun to expand the cultivation of coffee, setting off a trend of drinking "Taiwan's Gukeng Coffee." Because it is located at 23.5 degrees north latitude, which is the most suitable for the production of coffee beans, coupled with the combination of temperature and humidity, Gukeng Township has become one of the few places in Taiwan where premium coffee can be produced. Gukeng coffee belongs to Arabica, because the method and time of baking and extraction are different from other rich coffee producing areas. Gukeng coffee has a special flavor.

Since 2003, the Huashan area of Gukeng Township has held a coffee festival every year, attracting many visitors and promoting Taiwan coffee.

In the early 20th century, the coffee planting area of Hebao Mountain in Huashan area of Gukeng Township reached 75 hectares. In its heyday, it was known as "the largest coffee factory in the far East". After the war in 1945, the coffee planting area in Huashan area also expanded to 113 hectares. However, immediately because of the decline in the price of the cash crop, most of the coffee fields were abandoned or transferred for other uses, and it was not until 2000, at the initiative of the Taiwan government, that local farmers returned to widespread production and marketing. In 2006, the planting area of coffee in Gukeng Huashan area was about 100ha, with an output of more than 10000 kg. Now every year during the coffee harvest in Huashan area of Gukeng Township, a coffee festival is held to promote Gukeng coffee!

Chiayi Alishan Coffee

In recent years, coffee has been grown all over Taiwan, including Dongshan in Tainan, Gukeng in Yunlin, Alishan in Chiayi, Hsinchu and Miaoli, and the real planting area is still being estimated. Taiwan has four distinct seasons, high altitude areas, a large temperature difference between day and night, clouds are the producing areas of high mountain tea and fruits, but also give birth to high-quality Taiwanese coffee. Coffee farmers in Taiwan grow in high-altitude slopes and under forests with a half-day climate, and under the difficult environment of constant confrontation and improvement, Taiwan's coffee gradually gives off its unique aroma.

The secret of coffee farmers in Gukeng

Fertilization-the secret recipe to make coffee taste good

Let the coffee tree eat oysters and sesame seeds!

The fertilizer sold in the general market is not enough to supply the nutritious growth of coffee, so self-made organic fertilizer is used in the coffee garden to dig channels for fermentation, to recover the peel and silver skin removed from the coffee fruit, and especially to add organic matter such as oysters and sesame seeds. Oysters and sesame seeds are eaten by a plant that eats 40 jin of oysters and sesame a year.