Fika Fika Cafe

Overview

Fika Fika was founded in 2013 in Taipei's Zhongshan District by James Chen (Chen Chih-Huang), who had spent more than a decade as an online hobby roaster and forum operator before going professional. The same year he opened the cafe, he travelled to Norway and won both the espresso and overall categories of the 2013 Nordic Roaster Championship — the first non-Nordic competitor to take the grand prize since the competition started. The Yitong Street flagship is built around a Scandinavian-inspired interior with floor-to-ceiling windows. Chen later roasted the Finca Deborah Geisha that helped Berg Wu (Simple Kaffa) win the 2016 World Barista Championship, and now runs an experimental kitchen alongside the cafe collaborating with Japanese chefs Susumu Shimizu and Hiroyasu Kawate on coffee-driven gastronomy.

Known for

• Founder James Chen won 2013 Nordic Roaster Championship (espresso + overall) — first non-Nordic winner
• Roasted the Finca Deborah Geisha that powered Berg Wu's 2016 WBC win
• Founded 2013 in Zhongshan with Scandinavian-inspired flagship cafe
• Signature Capulypuly blend uses individually-roasted beans combined post-roast
• Developed proprietary 'Sunshine Roasting' style

Why it matters

Fika Fika is the brand that announced Taiwanese coffee on the world stage. Chen's 2013 Nordic Roaster win — the first by anyone outside the Nordic countries — and his subsequent role roasting the Geisha that brought Taiwan its first World Barista Championship in 2016 made it impossible to dismiss Taipei as a derivative scene; today, Taipei is one of Asia's two or three most important specialty cities.

Production

destoning

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head roaster

James Chen

color sorting

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roaster machine

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filter equipment

V60, Aeropress

cupping frequency

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roastery location

Taipei, Taiwan

espresso equipment

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annual volume tonnes

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Café

No. 33, Yitong Street, Zhongshan District, Taipei 104

Recognitions

• Nordic Roaster Championship — Espresso category and Overall (2013)
• Listed in Big 7 Travels' 50 Best Coffee Shops in Asia

Sources

• https://thecoffeevine.com/reviews/cafes/taiwan/taipei/fika-fika-taipei-tw/
• https://www.cartogramme.com/drink/taipei-fika-fika-cafe/
• https://english.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=3466
• https://taiwan-scene.com/2023/07/31/taipeis-star-coffee-shops-light-up-the-international-stage/
• https://www.idrip.coffee/en/master/75
• https://danielfooddiary.com/2018/01/17/fikafikacafe/