South of the border coffee shop wind-woven beans are mellow and sweet

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Every holiday, Cai Xinjian (left) and his daughter Cai Yujun will let the Dongyuan Forest Recreation area float with a strong aroma of coffee. (photo by Zhou Ayun)

Tsai Hsin-chien grows his own coffee in Mudan Township, Pingtung. Two years ago, in the Dongyuan Forest Recreation area, he opened a "holiday limited edition" home-grown coffee shop at the southernmost end of Taiwan. With the coming wild ginger blossom season, he invited tourists to listen to funny explanations, bask in the genial sunshine in the forest, smell the fragrance of flowers, and taste the "weaved beans" that grew up in the wind.

Due to geographical factors, Mudan Township has few agricultural specialties, but Cai Xinjian dared to challenge. Nine years ago, he tried to grow Arabica coffee with high economic value, but he encountered the Morakot disaster the next year, and all 400 shallow root coffee seedlings were reimbursed. He never gave up and finally succeeded in becoming the southernmost coffee producing area in Taiwan. Two years ago, he even opened a holiday coffee shop in Dongyuan Forest Recreation area.

Cai Xinjian said that although the Hengchun Peninsula has a unique falling wind season, although coffee trees cannot afford strong winds, he adds "crutches" to each tree to rely on them. Instead of being discouraged and complaining, he chooses symbiosis. Unexpectedly, the coffee brewed exudes a touch of bitterness, but the tail force is pleasantly surprised, and the flavor is strong and rich. Because he can stand the strong wind, he specially named it "weaving beans."

In order to keep the coffee beans fresh, he only baked coffee beans the day before and restricted coffee on holidays. He began to bake beans on Friday. During the holiday business hours, his daughter, Cai Yujun, would also put on the traditional costumes of the aborigines and become the Paiwan girl in the forest amusement park. In the fragrance of wild ginger flowers, bring a cup of hand-made coffee for the traveler.