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.
