Instant coffee and the long gap
The decades when the island stopped growing and started importing.
The switch
After the war, land reform and cash crops pushed coffee to the margins. Farmers planted rice, sugarcane, and later betel palm, all of which paid faster.
Instant coffee arrived through the military and the new urban middle class, and it set the reference point for what 'coffee' meant for a generation.
What that did to taste
Two decades of instant coffee taught people to expect dark, bitter, and sweet. That expectation did not disappear when fresh coffee returned.
It is still visible in the roast profiles of older shops, and in the fact that milk coffee outsells filter almost everywhere outside Taipei.
Disclosure: this article contains no affiliate links. Prices and dates checked in October 2026. Our methodology.