Cafeography
精品咖啡 · Kaohsiung

Specialty coffee cafés in Kaohsiung

Roasteries in Zuoying, direct-flame roasting in Sanmin and Lingya, and beans from the hills.

Photo: KOREAN JH, Pexels License

On a Kaohsiung shopfront, 精品咖啡 (jīngpǐn kāfēi, specialty coffee) usually comes with roasting words: 現烘 (xiànhōng, freshly roasted), 自家烘焙 (zìjiā hōngbèi, roasted in-house) or 直火焙煎 (zhíhuǒ bèijiān, roasted over an open flame). Signs such as 羅斯朵晴天現烘精品咖啡研究室 on Wufu 3rd Road and 德爾文咖啡直火焙煎專門店 on Dafeng 2nd Road spell out the method in the name.

The city has a world title in roasting. Jacky Lai (賴昱權) won the 2014 World Coffee Roasting Championship; that year he was also an SCAE-authorized roasting trainer, an SCAA cupping judge and a licensed Q Grader.1 His COACHEF brand started selling beans in February 2015, and its drip-bag coffee reached supermarkets across Taiwan that May.1

Local tip: For Kaohsiung-grown coffee, look for beans from Maolin or Namasia, the mountain districts whose growers the city showcased at its 2024 coffee festival.3

Where these cafés are: Lingya (3), Zuoying & Mingcheng Road (3), Cianjin & Sinsing (2), Sanmin & Main Station (2), Museum of Fine Arts & Neiwei (1).

At a glance

11Cafés listed
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Coffee from Kaohsiung's own hills

Kaohsiung's city limits run up into the Yushan Range, and some of its mountain districts grow coffee.23 At the 2024 Kaohsiung City Coffee Festival, Maolin (茂林) was represented by 林老師卡好咖啡 and 陳勝咖啡, Namasia (那瑪夏) by 橋香咖啡 and 樁萱巫師咖啡, and Neimen (內門) by 滿築蜂蜜&咖啡, known for a honey-scented coffee.3

The tourism bureau's director, Kao Min-lin (高閔琳), said several of the businesses were started by young farmers who had come home to plant their own coffee trees.3

Pingtung and the national harvest

In neighboring Pingtung County, the Paiwan community of Tjukuvulj in Sandimen township grows coffee at about 800 to 1,200 m; the Japanese planted arabica there early in the colonial period.4

Taiwan-grown beans are still a small crop. The Ministry of Agriculture expects the island's coffee area to grow from 1,167 to 2,500 hectares by 2030, and the harvest from 906 to 2,000 tonnes.5 Ask for 台灣咖啡 (Táiwān kāfēi, Taiwanese coffee) if you want local beans in your cup.

What a specialty cup costs in Kaohsiung

The cheapest premium cup is at a convenience store. As of August 2026, 7-Eleven's City Prima americano costs NT$60 to NT$100 and its latte NT$70 to NT$110, depending on size, and a City Prima flat white NT$100 to NT$120.6

At cafés, Numbeo's October 2026 figures for Kaohsiung put a regular cappuccino at NT$40 to NT$155, with an average of about NT$94.7 In mid-October 2026, NT$100 was worth about US$3.09.8

Where Kaohsiung's roasters are

Zuoying and Lingya have the most specialty roasters. Zuoying has Dotz Coffee Roasters in Lane 13 of Fumin Road, 跨咖啡 (CoffeeRoaster / Barber), which shares its premises at Fumin Road 456 with a barbershop, and Sunnyday Cafe Roaster at Zhongyan Road 115. In Sanmin, Charon Coffee Roasters (卡戎精品咖啡) is in Lane 265 of Minzu 1st Road and 德爾文咖啡 at Dafeng 2nd Road 67.

Lingya has 14克咖啡 直火焙煎 at Ziqiang 3rd Road 6, whose other branches are on Wenheng 2nd Road and Guanghua 1st Road, Bona Kafo Roastery at Liuhe 1st Road 4-1 and 時昉微傾 at Heping 1st Road 234. Downtown, Punt Coffee Roastery is at Datong 1st Road 61 and 貝比德咖啡 Coffee Roaster at Wufu 2nd Road 58. Drake193 Coffee Roasters sits beside a park in Lane 58 of Baozhen Road, near the Museum of Fine Arts.

Sources

  1. Coffee Master Yu-chuan Jacky Lai: The Pride of Kaohsiung (咖啡職人賴昱權 高雄之光), Maritime Capital Kaohsiung, Kaohsiung City Government (June 5, 2015), accessed October 2026
  2. Kaohsiung, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. 2024高雄城市咖啡節 凹子底公園登場, Newtalk (November 24, 2024), accessed October 2026
  4. Promoting Indigenous Products: Taiwan's Pingtung Tjukuvulj Coffee, Ketagalan Media / Mata Taiwan (April 17, 2018), accessed October 2026
  5. Coffee production past and present in Taiwan, Taiwan News (December 17, 2023), accessed October 2026
  6. 2026 超商咖啡優惠整理：7-11 CITY CAFE／全家 Let’s Café 價目表, Money101 (updated August 2026), accessed October 2026
  7. Cost of Living in Kaohsiung, Numbeo (updated October 24, 2026), accessed October 2026
  8. Taiwan Dollars to U.S. Dollar Spot Exchange Rate (DEXTAUS), Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), accessed October 2026
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By area: Cianjin & Sinsing Lingya Sanmin & Main Station Museum of Fine Arts & Neiwei Zuoying & Mingcheng Road

FAQ

Specialty coffee in Kaohsiung: questions

Who is Kaohsiung's world coffee roasting champion?

Jacky Lai (賴昱權), a Kaohsiung roaster, won the 2014 World Coffee Roasting Championship. That year he was also an SCAE-authorized roasting trainer, an SCAA cupping judge and a licensed Q Grader. His COACHEF brand began selling beans in February 2015 and put drip-bag coffee into supermarkets across Taiwan in May 2015.

Where is coffee grown near Kaohsiung?

Inside the city, coffee businesses from the districts of Maolin, Namasia and Neimen took part in the 2024 Kaohsiung City Coffee Festival, some run by young farmers growing their own trees. In neighboring Pingtung County, the Paiwan community of Tjukuvulj in Sandimen grows arabica at about 800 to 1,200 m.

How much does specialty coffee cost in Kaohsiung?

As of 2026, a regular cappuccino at a Kaohsiung café costs NT$40 to NT$155, about NT$94 on average. 7-Eleven's premium City Prima line charges NT$60 to NT$100 for an americano and NT$70 to NT$110 for a latte. NT$100 was worth about US$3.09 in October 2026.

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