Japanese specialty coffee roaster runs nostalgic cafe in Tainan

Japanese specialty coffee roaster runs nostalgic cafe in Tainan

2023-07-06

Now let’s take a trip to the heart of Tainan’s old city to visit a nostalgic cafe. Tucked in an alleyway is a Japanese-style coffee shop run by specialty coffee master Rika Tanaka. The coffee roaster began the business in 2017, and sells beans all over Taiwan and as far afield as Hong Kong. She originally came to Taiwan just for a holiday, but once she met her Taiwanese husband-to-be, everything changed. We spoke to Tanaka about how to brew a serious cup of coffee.

This small but perfectly formed coffee shop is nestled in an alleyway in Tainan’s oldest district. When Tanaka is roasting beans, just the smell is enough to make you stop in your tracks to take a deep sniff. Here she is in her element.

Rika Tanaka swiftly sifts through the beans, deftly picking out any impurities, and ensuring that no bad beans are left to spoil the brew.

Rika Tanaka
Specialty coffee roaster
Coffee is rather sensitive. So we manage the temperature of the flame, the air and the time. The flavor of the coffee totally changes. So you have to take care.

Tanaka is a certified premium coffee master with the Specialty Coffee Association of Japan. She specializes in dark roast and French roast coffee. In 2017, she moved to be with her husband, and began her roasting and delivery business. Her beans attracted high praise. Then the couple decided to convert Tanaka’s husband’s old family home into a retro, Japanese-style cafe.

Rika Tanaka
Specialty coffee roaster
You have to let the coffee beans rest for three or four days after roasting, before you can drink them. My method is to rinse them approximately three or four times, and then see how they look on top, how the bubbles are doing, and the speed at which the coffee is running out. Each bean has a different degree of freshness, so I decide based on the situation on the top.

Tanaka observes the bubbles in the coffee and the speed of the flow to adjust her brewing technique. She’s making Japanese pineapple bread, a popular sweet treat at the cafe. Cantaloupe ice cream soda is a nostalgic drink served in classic Japanese cafes. Even the decorations adorning the cafe have been brought here from Japan, creating an irresistibly nostalgic mood of olden days Japan, in the heart of old Taiwan.

This story was provided by the program "We Are Family"
Funded by the New Immigrant Development Fund

日咖啡師築夢府城飄香日台文化洗禮多元呈現

2023-07-06

在台南府城的巷弄間，有個來自日本的咖啡職人田中梨香，她是個日本高級咖啡師，有專業的咖啡豆烘焙技術，經營烘豆生意，咖啡豆還熱銷到香港等地。當年她來台旅遊，就因為先生一句話搭訕，締結了兩國聯姻。來台定居台南後，她也把日本職人的咖啡精神，帶到府城來繼續飄香。

咖啡館精緻風雅，隱藏府城巷弄，而咖啡豆烘焙時的香氣引人駐留，店內的日本職人焙煎師，正熟練的烘著咖啡豆。

快速撥弄挑選，精準地挑出不良雜質，熟練的技巧不放過任何一顆破壞美味的壞豆子。

[[日本新住民田中梨香]]
“咖啡是有點敏感，所以管理火力、空氣、時間，就咖啡的味道完全改變了，所以要小心。”

田中梨香擁有日本精品咖啡協會高級咖啡師證照，烘豆技術以深焙和極深焙咖啡最有特色。2017年嫁來台灣後開始經營烘豆宅配生意，沒想到咖啡深受好評，進一步讓夫家老宅，變身成極具日式風味的復古咖啡館。

[[日本新住民田中梨香]]
“咖啡烘起來放3天、4天以後才可以喝了。我的辦法大概沖3次、4次，然後看上面的情況，泡泡的情況，然後咖啡流出來的速度，每一個豆子的新鮮度不一樣，所以我自己決定看上面的情況。”

沖咖啡時先從泡泡、咖啡流速觀察，再對沖泡方式進行微調，正在製作的日式菠蘿麵包，是店內的熱銷商品。哈密瓜蘇打冰淇淋汽水，是日式喫茶店的懷舊飲料，不管是復古茶飲、麵包點心，還是店內從日本帶回的燈飾家具，都襯托出日本的復古氛圍，也豐富了台灣社會的多元文化。

以上內容由《我們一家人》節目提供內政部移民署監製

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This story was provided by the program "We Are Family"
Funded by New Immigrant Development Fund

2023-07-06