“Feeling” one’s way from a life in the dark to top-notch barista

Almost completely blind in her left eye and with a visual acuity of only 0.03 in her right eye, Lin Jia-zhen (林佳箴) has succeeded against all odds to become a coffee shop proprietor. Standing strong in the face of her sight impediment, Jia-zhen has unceasingly practiced to master the art of coffee making using her sense of touch. Developing her own method and theory for coffee preparation and latte art to produce a perfect cup of coffee, she spent six months before serving up her first coffee to customers. Her coffee shop also serves a hot pot that doesn’t require the other visually impaired employees to fry or sauté food. 

When just 18 years of age, Jia-zhen developed optic atrophy and was told by her doctor that she would be completely blind before 40. On hearing this news, she decided to leave vocational training college and attempt to find something that she could master. From the outset, Jia-zhen firmly believed that provided she fully master the catering industry, there would be no need to rely on her eyes. Later, following an introduction to the catering department of a large hypermarket, Jia-zhen and her friends opened a cold noodle store and bubble tea café. Though Jia-zhen has poor eyesight, she has used other methods to catch up with sighted people. Today, Jia-zhen instructs her visually impaired employees how to use a knife, stove and make fruit juices. Though it is painstakingly hard work, Jia-zhen said: “You can’t use visual impairment as an excuse. Where there is a will to conquer something, there is always a way!”

“Feeling” one’s way from a life in the dark to top-notch barista

URL：https://www.peopo.org/news/300803

(以下是中文對照)

黑暗中的人生 「摸」出一手好咖啡

照片

咖啡店老闆林佳箴左眼近全盲、右眼視力零點零三，但她熟練的動作絲毫不因視力不好而停頓，她用摸索的方式不斷練習煮咖啡、打奶泡持續半年，自己找方法和原理、調整咖啡的口感，咖啡才端得上檯面。。她開設的咖啡店也聘請視障人士擔任員工，推出適合視障人士不需要煎、炸也能夠製作的小火鍋。

十八歲那年林佳箴視神經病變，醫生告訴林佳箴，她的雙眼在四十歲前可能全盲。她選擇離開五專，找一份可以熟能生巧的工作。林佳箴認為餐飲業只要做上手就不需要一直依賴雙眼，所以在朋友的介紹下進入大賣場的餐飲部，之後和哥哥姊姊合開涼麵店、泡沫紅茶店。她眼睛不好，但是拼命以其他方法趕上明眼人。現在林佳箴也教導視障同事用刀用火、打果汁，雖然辛苦，但林佳箴表示：「不能把眼睛的障礙當作理由，想要克服的事情，絕對能想到方法克服！」