DACHU COFFEE ESTATE
If you enjoyed the relaxed feel of County Road 197 in the East Rift Valley, don’t miss “Coffee Road” (County Road 175) in Dongshan, Tainan. Located directly south of Guanziling hot spring in the western foothills (between 500m and 800m elevation) of Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range, and just slightly south of the Tropic of Cancer, this area is one of the country’s most famous coffee-producing regions.
During the Japanese colonial era, coffee was imported into Taiwan from Sri Lanka, Java, and Manila. Experimentation and testing determined that the Arabica species, grown at 1400m, produced the best beans in the local climate. This is different from equatorial regions, where coffee is grown at 2000m to satisfy the plant’s moderate temperature range.
Dachu Coffee Estate is located right on County Road 175. The cafe is just a short walk through the farm. If the season is right, you’ll see bright red berries adorning the trees along the path. These are the famous coffee beans of Dongshan Coffee Farm. The varieties of Arabica grown here include Typica, Yellow Bourbon, Geisha, Venecia, and Purpurascens.
Dachu Coffee Estate practices the same farming philosophy as Maokong Six Seasons Tea House. Here, indigenous grasses grow symbiotically with the coffee trees and protect the soil below them. They also contribute to ecological diversity. It’s no wonder the farm has produced the third-best coffee in Asia (awarded 87.33 points by the Coffee Quality Institute in 2018).
Kuo Ya-cong, the farm’s owner, originally ran a successful publishing company in Taipei. However, he dreamed of an ascetic lifestyle. In 1991, he set down his pen, left his wife and children, and moved to the mountains to live without electricity or running water. While he worked as a laborer and learned new trades, his wife was left anticipating his quick return. Two years later, his wife decided to join him in the south and together they adopted a new lifestyle.
While mountain life might sound romantic, theirs was not without hardships. Reclamation of the first Dachu Estate by the lessor forced them to start again from scratch. With childish enthusiasm and the support of his family, Kuo Ya-cong persevered. He chose a new plot of land, sourced local building materials, and continued to build the treehouse of his dreams and an organic farm to go along with it. The Dachu Coffee Estate of today owes its success to Kuo Ya-cong’s firm belief that hard work always pays off.
Jokingly referred to as the man who turned his back on culture, Mr. Kuo was able to build the fanciful villa of his dreams without much more than some gardening tools. Experience his vision for yourself while sipping a coffee born of hard work and love for nature. Those looking for a non-caffeinated option can try a cup of local longan herbal tea roasted with rock sugar. Longan is another famous regional product. The history of this tea dates back to the Qing dynasty when monks brought it with them on their journeys into the mountains of Tainan.
The best seats in the house are on the terrace, where on clear days, one can survey the Chianan Plain. The beauty of the sunset should not be missed.
