Located on a disappointingly concrete-heavy ‘park’ behind a bunch of non-descript apartment blocks, Fika Fika, in many ways, played a vital role in the development of the city’s third wave culture. Founded by well-known hobby roaster and blogger James Chen in 2013, Fika Fika quickly became a symbol of Taipei’s interesting coffee scene after James won the Nordic Roasting Championships in the same year. He later went on to roast the Geisha from Finca Deborah that helped Berg Wu win 2016’s World Barista Championships.
The space is reminiscent of coffee bars in Stockholm or Copenhagen with its bright and clean and modern interior and subtle use of wood, and immaculately dressed baristas. Fika Fika is where I met my friend Jerry Chang who runs popular Facebook page World Coffee Shops and who told me that, rather interestingly, James roasts lighter for his retail sales but a bit darker for his cafés (he recently opened a second branch).
Although I was now in a comfortably air-conditioned space, I was still suffering from severe after sweats induced by the extremely humid climate outside. Jerry and I took a seat by the window and surveyed the menu that contained all your regular favourites, but also intriguing sounding items such as the ‘ice cube latte’. Exactly what I needed then!
The composition of this beverage was quite beautiful. I was served a tall glass containing coffee ice cubes swimming in cold milk and a small pitcher with liquid brown sugar. To put it together I had to slowly pour the espresso over the ice to get the cubes to melt and for all three components to come together in a luscious cocktail. To say it hit the spot would be an understatement.
Fika Fika is a great spot for meeting friends, reading a book, getting some work done just simply to pick up a coffee to go on your exploration of the city. If there are any beans on the retail shelves, make sure to pick some up because they’re usually gone by midday.
