The last two years have seen ram-pant inflation and financial crises. Consumers have been watching their pocketbooks, and Taiwan's book market has been at a low ebb. Books in the lifestyle category, however, have been relatively unaffected. Subjects once thought of as indulgences for the well-to-do such as wine tasting, gourmet cooking, and design have become part of everyday life for the average person. Also, while consumers might be able to put off buying another expensive designer bag, it's harder to quit those tiny affordable luxuries like a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, or a fine meal once they've become a part of your lifestyle.
This is how food and drink guides have become a pillar of the publishing industry in tough economic times.
In recent years, "palate cultivation" has become a trend in Taiwanese society due to two driving forces: passion for living and the demands of professional competition.
In Europe and North America, notions of taste are something that accumulated among the nobility and the merchant class over hundreds of years. As Taiwan began to develop, it was natural that it looked to the West for lifestyle needs and directions.
This trend is most apparent in professional and elite social circles. Not only do professionals want to make themselves known in society, but they also want to prove their status. Such competition causes anxiety in those who aren't "in the know" about tastes, making a greater need for guidebooks.
Taste for the masses
"Years ago, lifestyle books were only sold at Eslite Bookstore and were thought of as a kind of book that would be expensive and feature a luxurious cover. Now, we sell them at big-box stores such as Carrefour and RT-Mart displayed next to the coffee and wine selections," says Cube Press editor in chief Chiang Feng-wen.
Cube Press's food and drink books come in three categories: introductions, tasting notes, and complete reference guides. This also reflects the stages most readers go through-first they learn the basics, then they learn from the experiences of the masters, and finally they set off on their own.
"It has to be said that Taiwanese writers can never keep up with the demand of readers," says Chiang. So though Taiwan has writers such as Lin Yu-sen and Huang Mei-li, Cube Press still has to translate foreign books such as Section Chief Shima Kosaku artist Kenshi Hirokane's manga-style works on champagne and cocktails in order to satisfy readers.
Most interestingly, Whiskey: The Definitive World Guide, which was translated by whiskey master Kingfisher Yao, sold more than 7,000 copies within six months even at the hefty price of NT$1,680. That shows the passion and consumer power of Taiwan's whiskey drinkers is not to be ignored.
Masters of taste
It seems, looking back on this trend, that taste "masters" have played an essential role as guides.
In the 1990s, as the Internet gained popularity, Taiwanese publishers put out a "Masters" series of books. One of its stars was gourmet Yeh Yi-lan.
She put her food criticism online and organized events with readers over the Internet. Food became one of the most common topics on Taiwan's blogs. She then turned her attention to other topics such as accommodations and cooking ingredients, reflecting the broadening of the taste-making trend.
But in the last two years, the work of the masters has entered a new stage. Now, they stress specialization and knowledge. They also have been integrating themselves into the world community-Kingfisher Yao, translator of Whiskey: The Definitive World Guide, is an example of the latter.
Yao has only been a whiskey drinker for six years now, but his passion has led him to develop an expertise in the subject. He is a member of the Keepers of the Quaich and the Malt Maniacs, two international invitation-only societies whose yearly reviews are influential enough to affect the largest distilleries. According to gourmet Yeh Yi-lan, "Now, Kingfisher Yao is someone that even the giant multinational alcohol producers fear."
Finding passion
"When you throw yourself into a great passion, your interests, your studies, and your enjoyment become one and the same. It allows you to inject magic into your life. The minutiae of the tasting process also become a challenge to cross boundaries that is full of unlimited joy," says Yao.
Yao, who was not an enthusiastic student because of Taiwan's rigid education system, is representative of many adults who've rediscovered an interest in learning.
Yao previously marketed livestock supplies. It was only around the year 2000 that he developed an interest in whiskey. He believes that the distillation process is full of mystical elements, such as the way the local weather and soil can influence the taste. To grasp these mysteries, it is not enough for him to just taste the whiskeys at home-every year he makes a trip to Scotland, and so far he's visited almost 40 distilleries.
"Before when I heard people talk about 'terroir,' I didn't know what it was all about. It was only when I went to Scotland that I realized how big the impact of the environment is on culture, food and drink, and even the philosophic outlook of the locals," says Yao. Drinking whiskey gave him a new way to look at the world.
And when an interest becomes something with the power to affect global markets, it becomes another kind of interest. The Malt Maniacs, of which Yao is a member, hold what has been called "the whiskey market's cruelest competition." Whiskeys are not separated into price categories. "Makers of expensive whiskeys are especially afraid of losing to a cheap one as there would be a lot of fallout," Yao says.
Taste also brings people of different nations together. The Malt Maniacs club is made up of 24 independent reviewers from around the world, and they've got more than 16,000 reviews on their website so far. With scores for all the world's whiskeys, it's become a standard reference for beginners.
Enjoyment is not a crime
In the past, people thought of "taste" as being a concern of the middle class. Even now, when the media report on the new connoisseurship in Taiwan, there are always some worried readers who write reactions online about "taste versus branding" or "aesthetics versus commercial manipulation."
The truth is, now a Yahoo Kimo search for "whiskey" in Chinese returns more than 80,000 related blog posts. "Bordeaux" returns 8,000 results, and "siphon coffee" returns around 3,000.
Cultivating the palate and sharing experiences has become an unstoppable trend, and "enjoyment is not a crime" and "treat yourself a little better" have become the mottos of the day. Lifestyle book publishing shows it: affordable luxuries like a cup of coffee or a sip of whiskey are a way to celebrate good times and a small refuge in bad times.
Whether it's food, fashion, sport, or hobby, find your own interest. Through experience and study, anyone can discover that a little passion can bring one from the doldrums to happiness.
