At age 23, Fang Cheng-Lun—nicknamed the “Coffee Prince”—decided to leave northern Taiwan and return to Alishan to help with his family’s tea farm and orchid business. However, after more than ten years of living in the north, he struggled to adjust to the contrast between urban and rural life, causing him to lose passion and direction. Noticing this, his father entrusted him with 200 fruit-bearing coffee trees brought back from a relative. Though Fang knew nothing about coffee at the time, his persistence and experimental spirit eventually led him to win multiple championship titles.

Years ago, someone brought coffee seedlings from Africa back to Taiwan and planted them in Alishan. Fang’s father later took some of these seedlings and planted them in their own fields. The fascinating part is that with precise field management and Taiwan’s unique climate and terroir, these African coffee seedlings grew into coffee trees carrying a distinctively Taiwanese character.

In 2007, Fang won the Special Prize in Taiwan’s Specialty Coffee Bean Evaluation, which motivated him even further in his pursuit of coffee excellence. Determined to prove that Alishan is an emerging world-class coffee region, he continuously refined his craft and deepened his sense of responsibility to his community. His outstanding competition results have truly allowed both his tribe and the Tsou people to shine through coffee.