Hello, dear friends!
This is Peter from Yilan, northeastern Taiwan. Having lived here for over a decade now, I’m truly in love with the evergreen mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Within one day’s journey, you can enjoy the best of both, that’s the precious thing about Yilan. I want to share with you my cheerful memories I had here. For my first post today, I would like to share with all of you the secret retreat of mine, Cloud Cafe, located in the mountainous region of Da-tong, southwest Yilan.
This place is originally an orchard of my aboriginal friends. I met them occasionally when I frequently came hiking at the nearby Jo-Liao waterfall park years ago. They grew tangerines and oranges here, and also some fresh vegetables they consume, all of which were grown organically! Therefore, sometimes monkeys and wild boars come for a free meal. For the years, they have built a cafe and a garden out of empty land. Designed by the owner himself, it’s now hard to imagine the beautiful garden of flowers was once nonexistent. They grew their own coffee trees and gradually started roasting and brewing themselves.
With the help of “Talah”, the aboriginal word for laterite soil, the coffee has a mild sour taste, rich and special. Also, the stream water contributes a smooth, silky texture to the coffee, which you can’t find in the major cities. If you’re up for something special, you can try it with the variant of sweet millet wine or “Magao” - a pepper-like spice without the spicy flavor but a refreshing minty taste. The owner, obsessed with gardening and plants, decorated his garden with exotic flowers and a lotus fish pond. If you come at the right season, you will definitely be amazed by the natural fragrances. In addition to that, the scenery is quite good on sunny days. At the lookout, you can see all of Yilan plain’s rice paddies and the curvy coastline.
Occasionally, there are also eagles gliding freely in the clear sky. Take a deep breath of clean fresh air and take a sip of siphon-brewed Talah coffee, you will forget all your stress!
