Subscribe
Subscribe Now to receive Goldsea updates!
- Subscribe for updates on Goldsea: Asian American Supersite
Taiwanese Coffee Beans Win Respect at Championship
By wchung | 13 Jun, 2025
Yang Chieh-ju used only coffee beans from a single tiny village in Taiwan to win second prize at the 2011 World Siphonist Championship in Tokyo, reported Wantchina.com. The result has put Yuchih township on the map of the world’s gourmet coffee growers.
The fact that a Taiwanese contestant did well isn’t surprising. Taiwanese won the top prize in 2009 and placed second in 2010. What is surprising is that Yang won by using only coffee beans from a single tiny locale in Taiwan instead of following the usual practice of mixing a variety of beans.
Yang’s coffee left a deep impression on the competition’s American head judge Sherri Johns. She was especially impressed that a single type of coffee bean could possess such unique flavors at each phase, from hot to lukewarm to cold. After the late-September contest Johns traveled to Yuchih township in Nantou county in central Taiwan to see the coffee farms for herself.
Johns was accompanied on the visit by Wu Chien-wen, chief executive officer of the Taiwan Association of Specialty Coffee. After surveying Dalin coffee farms she remarked on the excellence of the environment and the health of the coffee plants.
Yuchih township only began cultivating coffee beans about three years ago. All of its coffee plants are grown on only three hectares (7.8 acres) in tiny Dalin village. However, Yuchih has long been known for its top-quality tea and for its proximity to some of Taiwan’s most famous scenic spots, including Sun Moon Lake.
Johns is an internationally recognized authority on coffee education, protocols and cupping rules, having run a training school and created the Ultimate Barista Challenge competition. She has served on judging panels at major international coffee events like the Cup of Excellence contests. She is founder and president of WholeCup Coffee Consulting.
The World Siphonist Championship was founded by the Specialty Coffee Association of Japan (SCAJ) in 2003 as the Japan Siphonist Championship. In 2009 the competition was expanded into the first World Siphonist Championship.
Yang works at the UCC Café Mercado at Taipei’s Sogo department store. She had won the top prize in Taiwan’s national competition in June.
The 2011 Championship’s first prize went to Hinako Kitsugi of UCC Foodservice Systems Inc. in Tokyo. Third prize went to Mark Shimahara of Lost Arrow Corp of Ventura, California, the operator of Patagonia sporting goods. The other contestants had come from Australia, Hong Kong and S. Korea.
Barista Yang Chieh-ju used only coffee beans from the tiny central Taiwan village of Dalin to win second place at the 2011 World Siphonist Championship in Tokyo.
Asian American Success Stories
- The 130 Most Inspiring Asian Americans of All Time
- 12 Most Brilliant Asian Americans
- Greatest Asian American War Heroes
- Asian American Digital Pioneers
- New Asian American Imagemakers
- Asian American Innovators
- The 20 Most Inspiring Asian Sports Stars
- 5 Most Daring Asian Americans
- Surprising Superstars
- TV’s Hottest Asians
- 100 Greatest Asian American Entrepreneurs
- Asian American Wonder Women
- Greatest Asian American Rags-to-Riches Stories
- Notable Asian American Professionals