Taiwan – Page 2

Aug 09, 2019 Taiwan

VWI by Chad Wang

VWI by Chad Wang is a busy cafe—always full while remaining incredibly well-balanced with spacious and delicate interiors. Even at night their lighting creates a bright environment that’s still homey and easy on the eyes.

There’s an air of serenity that’s lost with many superstar cafes. The café maintains a high attention to detail with true minimalism in its purest form, very much translating the demeanor of owner and World Brewers Cup Champion, Chad Wang. If you ever see him serve coffee, you’ll easily notice he’s a very calm, collected, and clean barista; and all of those qualities come across in VWI’s space. Everything is brewed downstairs while all the seating is upstairs. And there’s a brewing area surrounded by stools so you can watch the barista brew your single-origin coffee if you like.

The overall experience is a holistic and fulfilling, so please don’t fail to soak it in.

Follow @vwibychadwang on Instagram.

Aug 07, 2019 Taiwan

East End

East End is a proper lounge hidden inside Hotel Proverbs, situated in a fancy part of town in Taipei. It’s dripping with cozy vibes, making it an excellent bar for an intimate night out.

There’s a minimum order, so expect to drop a pretty penny. The aesthetic of the bar is refined and spacious and their choice of furniture is fitting for a fancy hotel bar, with underlit counters, silver-plated walls, copper-fitted lamps, and a well-lit back bar wall, resulting in an overall classically sleek look. It’s a highly-rated place, with the collaborative minds of big names in the cocktail industry curating the overall concept, including Nick Wu of Bar Mood in Taipei and Hidetsugu Ueno of Bar High Five in Tokyo. By focusing on service and luxury paired with an outstanding sense of design, they’ve both managed to make East End a familiar name in different top bar lists in Taipei and around Asia.

Follow @eastendbar on Instagram.

Aug 04, 2019 Taiwan

The Tender Land

The Tender Land in Taipei has an incredibly unique and peaceful lounge vibe with modern interiors, the majority of their seating stretched along the wide bar. It’s the type of place other bartenders frequent to get drinks after their own shifts because it closes at a later time compared to most bars in the city. Even deep into the night the train keeps running and they stay on track, serving drink after precise drink.

Tender Land is a very quiet bar (a plus since it’s situated in a residential area) making it the perfect spot to wind down and end your day with a proper nightcap. It’s a haven for everyone who knows about it, whether they’re in the beverage industry or not. They also have incredible food inspired by Taiwanese dishes, and like most serious cocktail bars in the country, their respect for the local culture is evident in both the style of service and choice of ingredients. Before you know it, it’ll be 5 a.m. and you couldn’t be happier about it.

Hanging from a carefully designed meat hook hanger system, The Tender Land’s library of liquor and spirits is a beautiful centerpiece to this brutally and beautifully minimalist cocktail bar. Also incredible is the small plates of traditional Taiwanese snacks, such as sesame noodles that you can order with your fine cocktail. And it’s awesomely open until the wee hours of the Taipei morning.

Follow @thetenderland_taipei on Instagram.

Jul 31, 2019 Hongkong Philippines Taiwan

Daily Drink’s Top Five for July 2019

It’s that time of the month again where we round up this month’s Top Five Favorites, and this time we based it on your favorite posts. So without further adieu and in no particular order, here are our Top Five for the month of July 2019:

ABKD, Philippines

Having a creative barista who’s willing to curate and experiment with their own signature beverage is always a good sign, it keeps the regular crowd interested in trying new things and allows them to discover new flavors. Like at ABKD in Poblacion, they created this unique version of an iced latte called the Pandan Latte, in which they use pandan leaves simmered in water with sugar which extracts the essence of the pandan and becomes pandan syrup. They add milk and a shot of espresso to their homemade syrup to complete the drink. This simple twist on the classic latte packs a refreshing flavor that’s not as sweet as might be expected.

Bar Pun, Philippines

A hidden gem in a city full of them, Bar Pun is a cocktail bar that functions on the belief that there are always two meanings to a word. A perfect example of this is the name Pun, which means incense in the local language but in English is a play on words with different meanings. Their bar is best known for using incense and other ingredients heavily influenced by Taiwan’s different cultures and merging them with different Western concepts and ingredients.

Raging Bull, Philippines

Stepping inside Raging Bull will instantly give you a nostalgic feel of the 1960s era. A very intimate and cozy atmosphere hidden inside one of Manila’s finest hotels, Shangri-La at the Fort located in BGC. Best known for their premium cuts of steak, It’s definitely a good idea to bring a date and enjoy a fancy meal with their classic cocktails. Don’t miss out on their extensive cocktails and spirits menu—they serve almost everything you can think of, from mezcal to craft beer.

COA, Hong Kong

To understand tequila, you must first understand what mezcal is, mezcal can be made from 30 different types of agave but tequila can only be made with the Blue Weber agave plant and can only be made in the city of Tequila, Mexico. Simply put, tequila is mezcal but not all mezcal can become a tequila. The award-winning Mexican-inspired craft cocktail bar in Hongkong called COA takes its name from the tool used to hand-harvest an agave plant that produces Mezcal. Jay Khan, named as the Bartender of the Year by the Bar Awards is devoted to promoting the agave fueled culture of Mexico. He pays homage to Agave through the signature cocktails he creates to celebrate the sacred plant.

Bella Goose, Philippines

More than just a simple neighborhood coffee shop, Bella Goose’s most impressive effort in building an inclusive community is how they use profits to fight human trafficking. They take in women who have been set free from sex slavery, give them an opportunity to start over by training and employing them as roasters and baristas. This is a place where anyone and everyone can truly feel that they belong. A cup of coffee at their shop means more than just a delicious break time treat, it also contributes towards saving lives.

Jul 28, 2019 Taiwan

Aura

Aura is a small Taiwanese cafe and roastery with a heavy focus on packaging and communication. They’ve developed their own tasting chart based on flavors that people in Taipei know and understand. It’s a very localized version compared to the Specialty Coffee Association standard flavor wheel. So instead of nutty and vegetative notes, you get winey and grassy. Aura also developed a computerized packaging system to determine what the art should look like for each of their unique roasting styles. The way their packaging system works is basically, they feed different pictures into the computer with all the colors of their flavor chart, then inform it how they feel about the coffee and how it tastes, and the system automatically creates a design. It’s a lot of effort just to package the beans, but it really shows the level of commitment Aura has in terms of serving their local community.

Jul 22, 2019 Taiwan

Chyi Woa

We all speak different languages, but we all say espresso. While traveling around Taipei, we stumbled upon this sign at Chyi Woa. Even in a sea of foreign characters, the sight of this familiar word was welcoming. They serve a variety of coffee origins at Chyi Woa which they prepare using an old school Faema espresso machine. The majority of the people inside were elderly gentlemen—including the barista. They seemed to regularly get together for espressos, and it really emphasizes how much coffee can connect people. This cafe is right around the corner from where Imperfect Coffee and Matcha is, where the majority of customers are young university students. But don’t hesitate to come in, they’re very welcoming in both cafes, regardless of age. It’s a nice contrast, seeing both of these cafes right across from each other. It shows how much this neighborhood values the different cultures of each generation.

Jul 16, 2019 Taiwan

Bar Pun

Bar Pun in Taipei is a hidden gem in a city full of them. One of the partners, Kero, was kind enough to play host for us during our trip there. According to him, their bar functions on the belief that there are always two meanings to a word. One of the best examples of this is the name Pun, which means incense in the local language but in English is a play on words with multiple meanings. The bar is known for using incense and other ingredients heavily influenced by Taiwan’s different cultures and merging them with Western concepts. Kero explains that everything they do is very deliberate and packed with meaning. When you read through their menu or drink their signature cocktails, you can feel the amount of care, attention to detail, and focus on storytelling. They’re head and shoulders above many other bars, not only in Taipei, but across Asia.

When visiting a hype and new cocktail bar, the tendency is to order one of the bar’s signature beverages. To see the creativity of the artists behind the bar, and what they’ve been able to pull off that is fresh and new. “I think you should have the negroni,” says Bar Pun’s champion bartender, Kero. “I know you’ve had many negronis, but you haven’t had ours. Ours is different.” He was right. Slight alterations from the standard recipe — including an aromatic utilising the bar’s Chinese namesake: incense — made for a cocktail that was both satisfying and surprising.

Winter is here, and this? This is Jon Snow. Made with Pear Brandy, Fauchon Tea Liquer, Early Grey Tea, lemon, and egg white which makes for a great “snow” in the form of foam. Finally, garnished with incense which also serves as an aromatic for the cocktail. This is one of the crowd favorites at Bar Pun, both because of the name but also because people feel they can relate to it. Once you’ve had one, you’re most likely to get another one because its such a sweet and tasty drink. There’s a variety of texture to it, as you enjoy peeling through the layer of “snow” on top you’ll find a refined and royal flavor coming out of the brandy and tea flavors lining up underneath. Another cool thing about Jon Snow is that if you’re from Taipei, you’ll recognize that the ingredients of this drink all come from the north of the country, which shows how thoughtful the bartenders were when designing the Jon Snow.

Jul 09, 2019 Taiwan

AHA Saloon

Aha Saloon had the honor of ranking in Asia’s 50 Best Bars as a new entry for 2019. Trying to find a seat here, even as early as 8:30 p.m., is nearly impossible because this Taipei bar is usually packed with patrons already. Standing in a corner beside a little shelf where you can put down your drink is still fun, because the bartenders are attentive and serve up proper cocktails, no matter how busy. It’s a good example of not compromising quality for quantity. Their quickly growing reputation seems well deserved.

It’s a breath of fresh air in a sea of American-influenced bar interiors. Instead of your typical wood and prohibition era aesthetic, they instead focus on an Asian vibe that’s reflective of Taipei’s culture and its urban scene. The country’s flag is displayed proudly at the center, beneath a rich red and gold plaque, all surrounded by an industrially designed black bar. Turn your focus toward the seating area and the furniture all has a touch of Western influence, including bookshelves piled with cassette tapes, a pretty cool vinyl collection, and jars full of ingredients from around the world. There’s also a vintage style leather couch for mingling with new people. The saloon marries both Asian and Western cultures, while still respecting its roots by curating cocktails heavily inspired by asian ingredients and at the same time, they’re also able to show an eclectic self awareness.

Jul 06, 2019 Taiwan

Coffee Essential

Essential – a fitting title to what goes on inside this space. This cafe has many different, compartmentalized spaces that have a different look in every nook. All sorts of environments for the different kinds of people who go there. Whether you want to chill on a sofa, hangout with your friends for a meal, or stay under a skylight, there will be a spot for you. The choices for seating in Coffee Essential are as wide as their menu – featured heavily on this menu is their Dutch coffee which is a drip tower cold brew that they make constantly in the front of their cafe.

If you ask Coffee Essential what to drink, they’ll insist you taste their Dutch cold drip coffee. Immediately after passing through the front door, you see Dutch towers everywhere—it’s kind of their specialty. The result of the towers (which are tall and slow cold drip systems for making coffee) is a very intense, syrupy flavored cold brew. It’s a taste you wouldn’t usually get from a traditional cold brew. Some people may not like drinking this in the morning, but it’s always a good choice on a hot afternoon.

This is not your regular slice of cheesecake. That’s the usual impression at Coffee Essential in Taipei. It’s one of their best-selling desserts and one they’re well-known for. There are a lot of different textures, contrary to the single fluffy experience of a normal cheesecake. It has a creamy center wrapped by sponge cake with a dollop of blueberry jam on top, all of which collapses onto itself. It’s a bit too much for just one person, so maybe share it with a friend or two. The cake compliments the fruity, tea-like flavor of their single origin Ethiopian coffee nicely. It’s a very simple pairing but an undeniably satisfying one. No wonder it’s so popular. Essential also puts a lot of thought into setting the mood with finely detailed interiors and selective tableware. These are small details, but taking the time to appreciate them pays off.

Jun 23, 2019 Taiwan

Imperfect Coffee and Matcha

Taipei’s Imperfect Coffee and Matcha is quite hard to find; they have a sign, but it’s nowhere near their door. The cafe is in a university town, so once you walk up the stairs, you’re bound to discover it full of students hanging out or studying. The second-floor windows overlook a public park with giant lawns in front of the university, and the view makes the climb worth the effort. Even during overcast days, it’s a very comforting place. Their menu also offers a variety of meals and pastries and the portions are generous, so you get a bang for your buck. (Students are always broke, after all.) A lot of their pastries highlight matcha as the main ingredient, so if you’re a fan then this is a must if you’re in town.