The most ideal environment for coffee trees to grow is between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, and this is the global growth belt for coffee. The Kantou Mountain of Nanshi Village in Dongshan District is located precisely in this mountain region at an elevation of approximately 500~800 meters above sea level. The altitude, geology and climate are all quite suitable for coffee growth. This region is near Zengwun Reservoir, Wushantou and Baihe Reservoir, which can regulate the humidity plus the semi-direct lighting environment. The significant diurnal amplitude and organic cultivation adopted by farmers of Dongshan District contribute to the cultivation of high-quality coffee beans here.
The cultivation of Dongshan coffee can be dated back to the period of Japanese rule, when Lyubo Zeng was the first to grow Arabica coffee trees on the hillsides of Kantou Mountain. There are still some tens of old coffee trees in the Zengs’ coffee farm that have survived for more than 60 years after first being grown by his grandfather.
In the 1980s when resident Shi-Xiang Huang tried to cultivate coffee trees by Fuyou Temple on Kantou Mountain, he emphasized studying the coffee bean roasting techniques to brew Dongshan coffee with a specific aroma, which gradually added to the renown of Dongshan coffee. The number of farming areas for growing coffee trees have also increased subsequently. Currently there are more than one hundred coffee tree farmers with a total area of cultivation of nearly 150 hectares, turning Dongshan District into the largest region of coffee production in Taiwan.