Developer of Cold Chain Drip Coffee Machine Lin Zhi-long Wins Gold at Paris Invention Fair

(Central News Agency, reporter Guan Rui-ping, Miaoli County, July 7) Miaoli entrepreneur Lin Zhi-long, who started in agricultural machinery and then spent many years in the water purifier industry, has innovatively developed a fully automatic cold chain drip coffee machine. Competing for the first time at the Paris International Invention Fair, he won a gold medal. The 68-year-old jokingly said that he only has a junior high school education and relied on his lifetime of experience to win the award.

At the 2026 France Paris International Invention Fair, the Taiwan delegation exhibited 64 works, with 28 from Miaoli County businesses, all of which received awards, including 4 gold, 7 silver, and 17 bronze medals. Among them, Lin Zhi-long, a water purifier businessman from Xihu Township, won a gold medal for his fully automatic cold chain drip coffee machine, recognized for its outstanding innovative technology and practical value.

Lin Zhi-long told CNA today in an interview that drip coffee is made by slowly extracting coffee using ice or ice water. Traditional drip coffee machines usually operate at room temperature for long extraction periods. Because they are exposed to the air, bacteria can easily grow, or the speed of ice water dripping may be uneven, affecting the extraction quality, taste, and flavor.

Lin Zhi-long spent about 1.5 years developing the cold chain drip coffee machine. He explained that the ice compartment uses a water dispenser model, where the process of generating ice water is completely isolated from the air. During the drip extraction phase, UV sterilization is used. Finally, the collected coffee drips directly into a refrigerated container, ensuring that every drop of cold brew coffee remains sterile from beginning to end.

Lin Zhi-long pointed out that test results show that the cold chain coffee machine can extend the shelf life of drip coffee from the traditional 7 days to 45 days. It has also passed SGS testing for 410 items, including pesticide and heavy metal residues, and has shown no detection of E. coli or microplastics from PET bottles, ensuring product safety.

Due to the coffee machine's dimensions of approximately 193 cm in height and 75 cm in width, it could not be physically transported to the Paris Invention Fair. Lin Zhi-long used videos and detailed explanations to describe the core operation of the equipment. He also brought the produced drip coffee to the venue for the judges to taste, which amazed them. It is believed to be the world's first commercial fully cold chain drip coffee machine, and it has attracted interest from French companies expressing their intention to visit Taiwan in September to discuss agency rights.

However, Lin Zhi-long is not a coffee enthusiast. The idea originated more than three years ago when he visited a coffee shop to repair equipment for a client and ordered a cup of drip coffee. Before he could take a sip, another customer in the shop suddenly coughed. "Perhaps due to lingering concerns after the pandemic, I started thinking about how to make the coffee production process safer and avoid the risk of airborne contamination."

The 68-year-old Lin Zhi-long won the highest honor at an international invention fair on his first attempt. He jokingly said that he only has a junior high school education and learned agricultural machinery when he was young, giving him a solid foundation in mechanical repair. In 1990, he switched to making water dispensers and water purification equipment. "This invention is the result of combining over 50 years of social experience from both fields and embarking on a new journey."