The water you cannot taste
Taipei tap water is soft enough to brew with, and hard enough to flatten a light roast.
What is in the tap
Taipei's supply is mostly surface water from the Feitsui reservoir: low in minerals, lightly chlorinated, and stable across the year.
That is close to ideal for filter coffee. It is also why visitors often find the same beans taste sweeter here than at home.
Water is 98 per cent of the cup and 2 per cent of the conversation.
The cheap fix
If your cup tastes hollow, add a pinch of mineral water or a very small amount of baking soda to the brewing water before buying an expensive filter.
If it tastes chalky, the water is too hard: use filtered, or half filtered and half tap.
Disclosure: this article contains no affiliate links. Prices and dates checked in October 2026. Our methodology.