The Story
Fika Fika Cafe was founded in 2013 by James Chen, a Taiwanese roaster who made international headlines that same year by winning the Nordic Roaster Competition in both the espresso category and overall . He became the first competitor from outside the Nordic countries to take the grand prize, a landmark achievement that put Taiwan’s specialty coffee scene on the global map . The name “Fika” comes from the Swedish word for a relaxing coffee break, and Chen doubled it to encourage customers to indulge in multiple rounds of that ritual throughout the day .
Chen’s victory at the Nordic Roaster Competition was not a fluke but the culmination of years spent studying Scandinavian light-roast techniques and applying them to the diverse terroir of coffees available in Asia . In the years following, his reputation grew further when he roasted the Geisha from Finca Deborah that helped Berg Wu win the 2016 World Barista Championship . The cafe quickly earned recognition on Big 7 Travel’s ranking of the 50 best coffee shops in Asia in both 2019 and 2020 .
Located in the Zhongshan District of Taipei, Fika Fika has become a pilgrimage site for specialty coffee enthusiasts visiting the city . The cafe’s Scandinavian-influenced aesthetic creates an atmosphere that mirrors the Nordic coffee culture Chen fell in love with during his travels . Beyond the flagship location, Chen has built Fika Fika into a broader brand that includes retail coffee sales and a dedicated following among Taiwan’s rapidly growing specialty coffee community .
Sourcing & Relationships
Fika Fika sources single-origin coffees from renowned growing regions around the world, with a particular emphasis on lots that showcase clarity and complexity under light roasting . The cafe has been one of the few specialty shops in Taipei to consistently feature Taiwanese-grown beans on its filter menu, championing the island’s emerging coffee terroir alongside established origins like Ethiopia, Panama, and Colombia .
Chen approaches sourcing as an educational endeavor as much as a commercial one . Regular cupping sessions at the cafe serve to educate the dedicated local coffee community on sourcing ethics, processing methods, and the relationship between terroir and flavor . Rare offerings like Panama Deborah Geisha have appeared on the menu, reflecting Chen’s connections to top-tier producers and his willingness to seek out exceptional lots regardless of price .
Roasting Philosophy
James Chen’s roasting philosophy is firmly rooted in the Nordic tradition of light, clean roasts that allow origin character to shine . His approach emphasizes brightness, floral aromatics, and nuanced acidity rather than roast-driven caramelization . This style, uncommon in Taiwan when Fika Fika first opened, helped introduce an entirely new flavor vocabulary to the local coffee scene .
The signature Capulypuly blend exemplifies Chen’s technical precision, combining multiple single origins that are each individually roasted to different degrees with distinct roast profiles before being blended . This approach requires meticulous calibration and deep knowledge of how each component coffee will behave at various development levels . The result is a blend with layered complexity that has become Fika Fika’s bestseller and a benchmark for Nordic-style blending in Asia .
What to Try
Capulypuly is the house blend and perennial bestseller, a multi-origin composition that showcases Chen’s Nordic roasting technique through careful individual profiling of each component . It particularly excels as a latte or drip filter coffee, where its balanced sweetness and layered complexity can be fully appreciated .
The rotating single-origin filter menu is where Fika Fika’s sourcing relationships truly shine . Offerings change seasonally and have included rare Taiwanese-grown lots alongside celebrated origins like Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and Panama Geisha . For visitors to the Zhongshan District cafe, the pour-over experience with a seasonal single origin is the definitive way to understand what made James Chen a Nordic Roaster champion .