Born 1980 in Yilan County, northeastern Taiwan, Lai was introduced to the world of coffee while working part-time at a cafe on the other side of the island in Yunlin County’s Gukeng Township, which boasts the country’s largest coffee plantations like Huashan.
But it was further south in Kaohsiung that Lai started his own business. He said the port city’s entrepreneur-friendly environment proved an irresistible lure.
“I opened my first shop, which combines fresh roasting and barista coffee, in 2011 after a fact-finding trip to the U.S.,” Lai said. “It represented the culmination of years spent working at the coffee coalface, and Kaohsiung’s nascent coffee scene proved a fertile ground for daring tastes and business innovation.”
Surfing the third wave of artisanal coffee, his little shop quickly developed into a popular national chain. Emboldened by such success, Lai’s next step was to conquer the coffee world.
A priceless opportunity arrived in the shape of the 2014 World Coffee Events competition in Italy, widely considered the Olympics for global coffee professionals. Lai beat out 90 rivals in three categories to win best roaster honors.
In addition to helping gain long overdue recognition for Taiwan’s humble roasters, Lai has helped usher in a new era of local coffee connoisseurship. “Coffee roasting is a process of translating beans into rich flavors, and there is increasingly more appreciation for the exquisite art in the country.”
Not resting on his laurels, the world champion—now also an accredited trainer and judge for the Specialty Coffee Associations of America and Europe—is setting his sights on enriching Taiwan’s coffee culture.
“We will further this initiative through the biennial Takao Coffee Roasting Competition,” he said, adding that he expects this year’s edition, scheduled for April 23-24, to cultivate a new generation of master roasters in Taiwan. (YHC-JSM)
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