From 2013 to 2019, there have been 18 types of green coffee beans in Tainan certified by Coffee Quality Institute (CQI); the significant results are incentives for farmers to produce high-quality specialty coffee. The Awards Ceremony of the 7th Tainan City Specialty Coffee Assessment 2019 was held in MinJhih Civic Center on the morning of July 2. Mayor Huang Wei-che personally praised the achievements of the champion groups Raise (Wang Zhong-he) and Honey-processed Beans of Plum Orchard (Cheng Ying-ru), second place Kantou Mountain Coffee Shop (Zeng Ru-fong), and third place Da Chu Hua Jian Coffee Farm (Guo Ya-cong). During the ceremony, Mayor Huang not only greatly expressed admiration of Tainan Coffee’s exquisite and mellow flavors as well as aromatic characteristics, but also encouraged local farmers to send high-quality coffee beans to CQI to qualify the specialty level, which would help Tainan Coffee shine on the global stage.
Mayor Huang said that Tainan’s Dongshan Coffee is indeed Taiwan’s Blue Mountain Coffee and one of the government’s favorable welcome gifts. With premium quality that has received widespread praise, it is afraid of neither competition nor comparison but only the incapability of understanding its value. He was grateful for the coffee farmers’ continuous information exchanges and improvements through the annual assessment. Mayor Huang also promised a supplementary budget to assist the farmers in joining multiple appraisals and contests internationally in the future and hoped to promote the coffee successfully on a global scale.
The Agriculture Bureau indicated that the 25 types of green beans participating in the evaluation, which used regulations in line with international rules, are all from Dongshan District. The top 3 will, on behalf of Tainan, attend the 2019 Taiwan-made Specialty Coffee Beans Assessment conducted by the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan. After that, they will be recommended to CQI to strive for the international authoritative certification.
The main coffee production regions in Tainan are Dongshan, Baihe, and Xinshi Districts. In recent years, Tainan’s total coffee growing area has reached 53 hectares, producing up to 65 tons of high-quality and aromatic flavored coffee that have met international standards. All coffee lovers are welcomed to visit Dongshan 175 Coffee Highway on weekends. To relish local coffee in the arms of magnificent mountains will certainly leave smooth and delightful memories.