Taipei · Taiwan

Simple Kaffa

Simple Kaffa is one of 3 Taipei roasters tracked on day9.

Since 2011 · Berg Wu, Chee (co-founder, partner)

Overview

Berg Wu opened Simple Kaffa in Taipei in 2011, after a decade selling coffee from a tricycle in Jingmei and Gongguan that he'd started in 2004 while still working as an electronics engineer. He'd watched the 2008 World Barista Championship in Denmark and decided he'd compete one day; he placed at the Taiwan Barista Championship from 2009 onward, made the WBC stage in 2014 and 2015, and won the title in 2016 in Dublin — the first Taiwanese ever to do so. The original cafe is famously hidden in the basement of a select shop, with a Diedrich 5kg roaster offsite and a La Marzocco GB5 plus EK43s on the bar.

Known for

2016 World Barista Champion — first Taiwanese title and only second Asian winner ever
Founder Berg Wu — former electronics engineer (Master's, NTU) turned coffee-tricycle vendor turned WBC champion
Hidden basement flagship in Taipei
Team produces multiple Taiwan Barista Champions including 2x champion Zoe Lai
WBC-winning routine used a Geisha from Finca Deborah, Volcán, Panama

Why it matters

Simple Kaffa's 2016 WBC win is the moment Taiwan stopped being a curiosity in the global specialty coffee map and started being treated as a serious origin and a serious market. The cafe's hidden basement format also influenced the wave of 'destination' specialty cafes that defined East Asian third wave through the late 2010s.

Production

head roaster: Berg Wu
roaster machine: Diedrich 5kg
filter equipment: Mahlkönig EK43, La Marzocco Swift grinder
espresso equipment: La Marzocco GB5 (2-group)

Café

This roaster operates a café.

Recognitions

2016 World Barista Champion (Berg Wu, Dublin)
First WBC title for Taiwan
Multiple Taiwan Barista Championship titles (Wu, Lai, Lin)

Sources

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