Fragrant to the last drop, coffee is the liquid upper of choice for modern society. Though coffee drinking may not have deep roots in Taiwan, the relentless perfectionism of those in the industry has resulted in a high level of excellence. (Hsueh Chi-kuang)

It’s early morning in Taipei and the smell of coffee floats out of the ubiquitous convenience stores that line the streets sometimes with hardly more than a few feet of separation, and also out of hole-in-the-wall joints that roast their own beans and are totally unknown to neighborhood outsiders. Everywhere you look, people clutch hot cups of coffee as they scurry off to work.

Taiwan is a nation of coffee lovers, for sure. Whether it’s the rich smoothness of a latte or cappuccino, or a cup of black coffee made from beans selected from a single estate that are roasted right there in the store, there’s always something to please the most fastidious of palates.

According to statistics, the Japanese quaff 343 cups per year; in America, the figure is 412. In Taiwan, the demand still doesn’t rival either of those two heavies, but consumption has nearly quadrupled over the last 10 years. What is the allure of coffee that is making Taiwanese increasingly inseparable from it?

In just a short span of years coffee drinking has become enmeshed in the warp and weft of Taiwanese daily life, as natural a companion to the day’s activities as tea. Many now start the day with a cup, and may even find it difficult to maintain focus during the workday without several additional infusions. Just recently, illegal price-fixing of convenience-store coffee was a heated topic at the national legislature, as well as a frequent subject of discussion amongst the public.

How much do Taiwanese love their coffee? The increases in both coffee imports and consumption over the past 10 years paint a compelling portrait.

According to customs statistics, in 1999 Taiwanese imported 4,794 metric tons of coffee (both raw and pre-roasted beans). By 2010, that number had exploded to 17,885 tons. In terms of cups of coffee consumed, the ratio is 480 million in 1999 (21 cups per person) versus 1.79 billion cups in 2010 (78 cups per person). That coffee consumption has nearly quadrupled in 12 years is a clear index of the extent to which the average Taiwanese has come to rely on it.