How did Alishan beans become the most expensive coffee in Taiwan?

At the 2022 Alishan Estate Coffee Elite Exchange Competition, natural-process Grand Prize beans from Zouzhuyuan started at NT$60,000 and climbed to NT$520,000 per 5kg, the highest price ever recorded at a Taiwanese coffee auction. The winning bid came from the Lion Group.

The beans were not Geisha, yet they matched top Geisha prices; the Geisha group's Grand Prize lot sold for only NT$320,000. Fifteen CQI-certified Q-Graders scored entries using the SCA cupping form, and only specialty coffees scoring 80 points or above qualified for auction.

The 2022 Alishan Estate Coffee Elite Exchange Competition and Green Bean Matchmaking Evaluation took place on May 11. Competing beans were divided by processing method into four groups: washed, natural, honey, and Geisha. Participants had to submit both parchment and hulled beans, which the organizers uniformly roasted, after which 15 CQI-certified Q-Graders conducted sensory evaluations using the SCA cupping form. Only beans scoring 80 points or above could participate in the auction. In the auction the following day, the natural group's Grand Prize-winning beans from Zouzhuyuan started at NT$60,000 and soared all the way to NT$520,000/5kg, won by the Lion Group, setting a new record for Taiwanese coffee bean auctions. Notably, these beans were not of the Geisha variety, yet they fetched a price on par with top-tier Geisha, while the Geisha group's Grand Prize winner sold for only NT$320,000. This article takes you through the backstory of this sky-high bidding war and analyzes the industrial logic behind the rise of Taiwan's local coffee.

On May 11, the 2022 Alishan Estate Coffee Elite Exchange Competition and Green Bean Matchmaking Evaluation officially entered the judging phase. This year's competition required all competing beans to be produced in Alishan, and divided them by processing method into four groups: washed, natural, honey, and Geisha. Competitors had to submit both parchment and hulled beans, with the organizers handling roasting uniformly.

After roasting was completed, 15 Q-Grader cupping judges holding CQI (Coffee Quality Institute) certification conducted sensory evaluations of the samples. The scoring system adopted international evaluation standards, using the SCA international coffee organization's cupping form. Only specialty coffees scoring 80 points or above could qualify for auction.

After the sensory evaluation, specialty green beans scoring 80 points or above were awarded different prizes—Grand Prize, First Prize, Gold Award, Silver Award, etc.—based on processing method and score ranking, and proceeded to competitive auction the following day.

Before the auction, buyers could first conduct sensory evaluations of the auction beans and lock in the numbers of their preferred coffee beans. In the formal auction, the coffee beans from Taiwan's Zouzhuyuan, the natural group's Grand Prize winner, became the focus of everyone's attention. The starting bid for this lot was NT$60,000/5kg, and the price climbed all the way to NT$400,000/5kg with 2 groups of buyers still competing.

After multiple rounds of bidding, the Taiwanese travel agency Lion Group ultimately won with a bid of NT$520,000 (about 118,000 RMB), smashing the previous record of NT$430,000/5kg and setting a new all-time high transaction price for all types of coffee bean auctions in Taiwan.

Just how high is NT$520,000/5kg? Currently, the world's most expensive coffee beans are the Red Label Geisha from Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda, which participates each year in the Best of Panama (BOP) green bean competition. The price is about 20,000+ RMB per kilogram, which for 5 kilograms comes to 110,000 to 120,000 RMB.

Yet this naturally processed coffee bean that fetched a sky-high price is not of the Geisha variety, but its transaction price has already matched that of top-tier Geisha. (Although in theory the two should not be directly compared, I still couldn't resist making a simple comparison.)

So what price did this year's Geisha group Grand Prize winner fetch? NT$320,000 (about 73,000 RMB)/5kg. The washed group Grand Prize winner was NT$100,000/5kg, and the honey group Grand Prize winner was NT$50,000/5kg.

Regarding this year's winning bid price, the person in charge of Zouzhuyuan did not seem surprised. Last year's record of NT$430,000 (about 97,000 RMB)/5kg was also set by this estate, and the bidder was also the Lion Group. The group's representative stated that in its Taiwan Railways "Mingri" sightseeing train and other operational services, Lion always serves passengers with the highest-quality products. Last year it bid for Alishan coffee for passengers to taste and received unanimous praise, so this year it decided to bid and place an order again.

The person in charge of Zouzhuyuan also pointed out that in recent years, the price of foreign green coffee beans has soared, shipping costs have remained high, and waiting periods have been long. After the green beans arrive in Taiwan, both freshness and quality decline. At the same time, Alishan's coffee cultivation techniques have continued to improve, and the coffee beans have already reached specialty-grade standards. Seeing high-end consumer business opportunities, the industry no longer seeks far and wide but has turned its attention to coffee grown locally in Taiwan.

"Writer, what are your thoughts after reading this?" - I suddenly feel that the non-auction-grade Hacienda La Esmeralda Red Label Geisha in my hand is even more fragrant!

Image source: Internet For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style) For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.