On the long, bumpy mountain road leading to Pingtung County’s Taiwu Village, the forest and fields sparkle with green and red from rows of coffee trees. In the village itself, at an elevation of 1,080 meters, coffee trees cover the hillsides.
The coffee plants, of the arabica species, were first planted in Taiwu Township early in the period of Japanese rule (1895-1945), when their beans were even exported to Japan for imperial use. Because the colonialists handled most of the steps in coffee processing, villagers did not learn the necessary techniques. After the Japanese left, the trees went unattended for decades.
All this began to change after Lauchu, a member of the indigenous Paiwan tribe native to the area, returned from the U.K. in 2009 with a doctoral degree in political marketing from Nottingham Trent University.
According to Lauchu, who is also known as Jack Hua, coffee beans from Pingtung’s Dawu Mountain area are of very high quality, with few pests or diseases due to the altitude and temperature.
“Arabica grows best in the tropics at elevations between 600 and 1,200 meters, where it’s cooler, so my village, which is about 100 kilometers south of the Tropic of Cancer—at 22 degrees 30 minutes north latitude—is a perfect location,” he said. “As the village faces southeast, fog usually sets in about three in the afternoon, providing natural shade and mild temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius.”
Lauchu helped establish a production and marketing group, and introduced coffee production and farm management techniques in the village, where 80 percent of the 110 households now grow coffee. He has since founded Ka-vulungan Coffee—meaning “the best” in the Paiwan language—and has also invited experts from Brazil and Hawaii to teach his tribesmen how to process and brew coffee.
Handpicking the cherries individually is an important step in producing Taiwu’s high quality coffee. They are sorted in water, where bad fruit float and are picked out. The pulp is then removed by machine. Next the coffee is fermented in water for eight hours to remove the mucilage left after pulping.
“Our processing procedures are rigorous to the point of testing the water used to ferment the beans for acidity and mineral content, because too many minerals can interfere with the aroma and taste of the coffee,” he said. A pH of 4.5 is best for fermenting, he explained.
After fermentation, the beans are laid out in the sun to dry for about two weeks, and then milled to remove the last two covering layers, the parchment and silverskin. At this point the coffee is ready for roasting.
In the various stages of processing any damaged fruits or beans are picked out. “We never sell burnt, cracked or bug-eaten beans,” he stressed.
“The beans are said to be responsible for 80 percent of the taste of a cup of fine coffee, with the rest determined by roasting and brewing techniques. Out of that 80 percent, 50 percent depends on how well the processing can retain the original smell of the coffee.”
The time, labor and costs behind a good cup of coffee, from picking to roasting, are what prompted Lauchu to establish the production and marketing group. Any farmer who owns or rents land is welcome to join, Lauchu said.
One advantage of taking part is the government subsidy for expensive machines such as those for pulping, milling and roasting. They can cost up to NT$280,000 (US$9,333) each, putting them beyond the means of individual households.
“The government covers one-third of the cost for individual purchases, but subsidizes half the cost if the machines are acquired on behalf of the group,” Lauchu explained, adding that as such equipment is not used daily, the organization helps farmers make the most effective use of resources through sharing.
Lauchu pointed out that the production and marketing group is just the first phase in helping local farmers, and that villagers are working on establishing a producers cooperative. “We hope to truly implement joint production and marketing,” he stressed, explaining that currently farmers plant trees and pick the cherries themselves due to limited available manpower, and tend to focus only on their own coffee.
“Their processing methods vary widely,” he said. “The length of time they dry the cherries is different, and one farmer may ferment the beans for eight hours, while another extends it to 12 hours. These inconsistencies make it hard to market the coffee as a brand.
“If we work together in harvesting and processing the coffee, the cost of manpower can be reduced, and the quality of the coffee will be consistent. With a cooperative, we hope to launch the most complete coffee production line in Taiwan, from picking, sorting, pulping, fermentation, drying and storage, to roasting and packaging.”
Although more work is needed in these areas, Taiwu produces very high quality coffee, which makes it expensive. “The price for 1 kilogram is around NT$70, the highest nationwide for domestic coffee,” Lauchu said.
“The competition from foreign coffees, as well as the local market’s unfamiliarity with coffee from Pingtung, makes it difficult for us to promote our product. All we can do is maintain our quality, and use this factor to differentiate Taiwu coffee from other Taiwan coffees.”
Coffee is a newly emerging economic crop in Taiwu, Lauchu noted. “We are working to incorporate indigenous features into this foreign drink, with its unfamiliar cultural elements,” he said. Some things they have done include roasting and brewing coffee in traditional Paiwan pots, and designing packaging using tribal totems.
“We hope to make our coffee known nationwide or even worldwide one day, and when people drink our coffee, they will be interested in visiting Taiwu, thus boosting local tourism.” (THN)
Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw