Key takeaways
- East Asia transformed coffee from niche trend into mainstream lifestyle culture.
- Shanghai hosts 9,000+ coffee shops, surpassing London and New York City.
- The Asian coffee market is growing three times faster than the global average.
- By offering exceptional hospitality and investing in training, East Asian baristas are raising global standards.
Coffee wasn’t always East Asia’s drink of choice. It only began to permeate the region’s traditionally tea-drinking cultures with the arrival of Starbucks in the 1990s, and was further driven by the launch of Luckin Coffee in 2017.
Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the East Asian coffee market has thrived. Shanghai’s café culture, in particular, has boomed. The middle class is also growing in East Asian countries like China, and consumers have developed a taste for specialty coffee that they are willing to pay for.
As the coffee industry’s centre of gravity shifts towards East Asia, the spotlight has turned towards the hardworking people behind it: the baristas.
Five baristas working at Simple Kaffa in Taipei, Taiwan – who each have between two and ten years of experience working in coffee – explain why the East Asia coffee market demands such skilled baristas.
You may also likeour article on why East Asia is setting the bar for customised drinks.
East Asia’s rapid market growth is raising quality standards
One of the main reasons why the East Asian coffee market is setting the bar high for barista skills is the huge boom in specialty coffee consumption across the region. A rapidly growing number of consumers now expect exceptional hospitality and quality, and baristas must continuously hone their skills to meet demand.
“Taiwan coffee culture has shifted from emphasising convenience and speed toward space and quality,” says Jim Jiang.
East Asia’s coffee market is intensely competitive, with both local businesses and regional coffee chains. Major Chinese coffee chains are aggressively expanding across the region and beyond. Luckin Coffee, China’s biggest coffee retailer, expanded to the US in 2025 with multiple locations in New York City.
Specialty coffee brands are also quickly scaling in East Asia, highlighting how stellar service, exceptional and exciting drinks, and stunning interior design are the future of the global industry. At the forefront is Shanghai’s experiential, tech-driven, and community-building coffee culture. Shanghai recently earned the title of the “world’s most compelling coffee city”, with over 9,000 coffee shops – more than London, New York City, or Tokyo.
Led by Shanghai and other major East Asian cities, demand for coffee in Asia is approximately three times the global average. For a historically tea-drinking nation, the rate of innovation is remarkable.
“Now, takeout shops talk about single origins and processing methods,” says Mi Hung. “Convenience stores and chain brands raised basic awareness. Consumers can already distinguish between ‘tasty’ and ‘distinctive.’”
An emphasis on service
With increasing awareness of coffee quality across East Asian markets, consumers are also expecting a higher level of hospitality.
Café cultures across East Asia reflect many principles from omakase. Meaning “I leave it up to you,” omakase is a Japanese dining concept that highlights key elements of Japanese hospitality: exceeding guests’ expectations, highly ritualised, elevated multi-course experiences, and a pursuit of perfection and attention to detail.
Similar to Japanese tea rituals and ceremonies, omakase coffee concepts curate intimate and intentional experiences. Seasonal ingredients of exceptional quality are essential, as is the space’s ambience. Taiwanese cafés, for example, emphasise interior design, a more formal host-guest relationship, and overall atmosphere – often with posted guest etiquette regarding minimum spend and time limits.
“The majority of shops provide a comfortable space to attract customers,” says Lika Tsai. “Customers tend to stay in the café for half the day.”
Similar to omakase, customers trust baristas to use their expertise and creativity to select the best drink for each customer.
“In Taiwan, we want to present a drink that meets our expectations,” Jim explains. “We suggest not to make too many adjustments so customers can understand what kind of coffee the barista wants to make for them.”
Rising standards have also raised appreciation for baristas as professionals.
“In the past, when coffee culture wasn’t so popular, when most people had other choices besides coffee, like tea drinks, baristas were often not particularly distinguished from service staff,” Lika says. “Gradually, the role has been perceived as more professional.”
Customers now appreciate the unique style and knowledge each barista brings to their café experience.
“Baristas don’t just make a cup of coffee, but through their own style, taste, and communication method, make customers willing to visit cafés because of specific baristas,” explains Arthur (last name omitted).
What’s it like working as a barista in East Asia?
As the backbone of East Asia’s dynamic coffee industry, baristas are tirelessly honing their skills and driving innovation.
The baristas at Simple Kaffa say that Taiwan’s highly competitive barista culture cultivates serious dedication, high performance under pressure, and resilience. Simultaneously, their attentive, warm customer service and willingness to share knowledge with customers set Taiwanese baristas apart.
The growing demand for specialty coffee in Taiwan has lowered the barrier to working in its many bustling coffee shops. Lika says entering the industry is “quite easy” as long as candidates have transferable work experience, basic brewing skills, enthusiasm, and clear career goals.
But once becoming a barista, the bar is set high. Taiwanese specialty coffee shops commonly require very comprehensive training programmes, and new hires work their way up from the register or prep stations to the brew bar. Lika recalls practising brewing skills for hours long after the day’s training concluded.
“To go far, you need long-term investment and practice, taking time to slowly accumulate professional skills and customers’ trust,” Mi says. “What’s truly important is not just carrying out tasks correctly, but knowing ‘why we do it this way’ and taking care of every detail.”
Baristas continually refine their palates and deliver consistent drink quality.
“Because industry competition is very intense, only by continuously improving skills and professional knowledge can you stand out among many peers,” Arthur says.
An essential way to excel is to participate in and fully understand the entire coffee supply chain. “Through training and constant practice, I gradually built an understanding of origins, processing methods, and extraction,” Mi says. “Sometimes society still thinks this is ‘young people’s work’, so you have to spend a lot of time accumulating experience to truly be recognised as a professional.”
What can international baristas learn from East Asian coffee professionals?
Mature specialty coffee markets have been increasingly looking towards East Asia for inspiration, namely with beverage customisation. But there’s plenty more to learn.
Baristas foster a warm, inviting culture in many East Asian cafés that stands out, particularly from European and American convenience-focused coffee cultures.
“Walking into most Taiwanese cafés, you can feel a friendly yet professional atmosphere,” Arthur says. “Other countries’ styles are very different – the atmosphere in Western countries is usually freer and more casual, while Japan emphasises process and details more.”
Liz (last name omitted) is proud of the way Taiwanese baristas foster genuine relationships with guests. “We care about customers, how long they’ve been here, and actively recommend things,” she says.
“Good service is actually a kind of quiet care – observing customer needs, staying polite, making people feel comfortable and at ease, rather than deliberately performing,” Mi adds. “Baristas observe customers’ preferences and moods, and also understand different people’s cultural backgrounds or preferences, then adjust their approach to make people feel comfortable.”
The East Asian specialty coffee sector is primed for further growth. No doubt, baristas will continue to hone their skills even further to ensure they meet the needs of one of the world’s most dynamic coffee markets.
In turn, standards for baristas worldwide will also increase, benefitting the entire coffee industry.
Enjoyed this? Then readour article on how to attract and retain the best baristas.
Photo credits: Berg Wu
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