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  • I've been in Taiwan for almost a year now.

  • And I've fallen in love with not only the people.

  • But the food as well.

  • Today I'm leveling up my taste buds.

  • And trying out something new.

  • Hi, everyone. It's me, Jenn.

  • And welcome back to my channel.

  • And welcome to Nantou.

  • And also welcome to CF Tea, Chuan Fa Tea.

  • As you can see, I'm surrounded by tea fields.

  • So I think you kind of know what today's video is going to be about.

  • But first, I want to tell you

  • how you can get here.

  • So let's rewind a little bit and go back.

  • From wherever you are in Taiwan,

  • to get to today's spot

  • you'll need to hop on to the HSR.

  • Once you reached Changhua Station,

  • get off and grab a taxi.

  • It's just a quick ride into Nantou County

  • and to CF Tea.

  • Right away I began my experience and immersion

  • into tea culture

  • by hopping into the back of a track

  • with the CF Tea family,

  • and we made our way farther into Nantou.

  • Okay. So we are on the way

  • to the main tea farm area,

  • which is not far from the main building.

  • How authentic is this. I love it

  • that we're sitting in the back of a truck.

  • We got hats.

  • We got the buckets to pick the tea leaves.

  • I'm all set. I'm excited.

  • Wow. Oh my god, there's many "Tonbo"

  • dragonflies.

  • Typically when you're picking the tea leaves,

  • you wear this kind of hat.

  • As everyone here is going to be wearing.

  • So I'm going to be wearing as well.

  • And you put this on.

  • Tie it and this is to help block the sun.

  • So where we're heading to is this middle one here.

  • You can see kind of like the curtain area right there.

  • That's black.

  • And that's to separate the farm.

  • Because something special about the farm we're on,

  • they do not use chemicals.

  • So it's to help protects

  • and know exactly where the lot is.

  • Alright, we're gonna pick some tea leaves here.

  • There's a certain way to harvest them.

  • So for example,

  • this leaf here.

  • You can see it's 1, 2, 3.

  • I think it was like, this is the heart.

  • And then the outside.

  • That's good.

  • Yay, okay. Let's go.

  • You can see that this field looks slightly different

  • than the other field that I was in.

  • This tea trees are about 40 years old.

  • That's a long time.

  • That's older than me.

  • You can tell they're organic by looking down here.

  • Some mulch.

  • The products used look slightly different.

  • And some of the leaves here have some like bug bites in them.

  • That's how you can tell it's organic.

  • Also, you can see the age of a tea tree

  • by the trunk shown here.

  • Do you see how many leaves are in this basket?

  • How many teapots do you think that these can make?

  • I'll let you think about it.

  • Five seconds.

  • 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

  • Zero actually.

  • One basket is not even enough for one pot.

  • It's actually four baskets

  • make one teapot.

  • Can you believe that?

  • We're going to the next place

  • which is a temple.

  • Wow, look at the view.

  • It's a little bit cloudy today.

  • But on a really clear day.

  • You can see the Taiwan strait.

  • And I was told that

  • the view is the best after rain.

  • And actually I learned the word for rain today.

  • Xia yu, right? Okay.

  • So this temple, Shou Tian Gong.

  • And I was told that it has over

  • or about 300 years of history.

  • So we're going to bless some of the tea.

  • Normal body temperature.

  • Please wear your mask.

  • Thank you for your cooperation.

  • Okay. For an example,

  • for about one month,

  • the family will come here at least two times.

  • So it has to do with the lunar calender

  • with the first of the month and the 15th of the month.

  • But you know sometimes,

  • they could come here five times in a month

  • to have the tea blessed.

  • But also to wish for a good harvest.

  • Alright. Now we're heading back

  • to the main building.

  • And we're going to learn how to make the tea.

  • The family tradition here

  • is to rinse your hands with tea.

  • Because they say it helps you

  • after being busy all day outside.

  • And has a really nice smell on your hands afterwards.

  • Kind of helps you relax.

  • And next step, we have tea-making from scratch.

  • Normally, it's done with the assistance of machines

  • in modern times.

  • However, you can experience it

  • and make tea by hand at CF Tea.

  • You see the board behind me here.

  • That's how you make the tea leaves by machine.

  • But when you want to experience actual tea making,

  • we're gonna do it by hands.

  • Wo-ow, it's actually quite hot.

  • The tea leaves are slowly cooking from the middle.

  • So like the outside here isn't hot.

  • But the middle I can definitely feel the warmth.

  • And I can smell it already.

  • Even through the mask.

  • The boss can use no gloves.

  • But for me, I'm not an expert.

  • -Is this Oolong tea? -Yup.

  • It's Oolong Tea.

  • Actually CF Tea, this establishment

  • has won a lot of awards.

  • Even from back, from the year I was born

  • in 1989.

  • So, you roll the tea.

  • And then you take it apart.

  • And you have to do it again.

  • Massage it, roll it around.

  • And usually it's one hour intervals.

  • So you do it 20 times,

  • which means if one hour is in between.

  • It's a long time.

  • I want to try.

  • So, I open it first, right?

  • Okay.

  • You can see that this tea sticks together like this.

  • So, you pull it apart.

  • Right? It really does stick together.

  • I did it, yay!

  • Smells really nice.

  • You really smell the tea leaf.

  • Good smell.

  • Now comes the part my taste buds

  • have been looking forward to.

  • And that is tasting some of the delicious teas here on hand

  • at the tea farm.

  • So, we're gonna try five different teas today.

  • -This is green tea. -Okay.

  • So, each tea has been fermented differently.

  • So, it goes from lighter to darkest.

  • And then the 40-year-old tea plants.

  • Ready? Okay.

  • Very smooth, very delicious.

  • It's more lighter in flavor.

  • Ah.

  • Delicious. I don't want to waste.

  • This is white tea.

  • White tea.

  • Thank you.

  • She serves me first. How sweet is she.

  • A light flower fragrance

  • and the taste of honey.

  • It's a slightly heavier taste.

  • Still a little floral.

  • -Thank you so much. -This is honey black tea.

  • Honey black tea.

  • Thank you.

  • Ready? Okay.

  • This one has more of a honey flavor.

  • And they were saying it's because the insects that like

  • come to the leaves themselves.

  • Carry their own natural honey.

  • So you can taste it in the tea.

  • I like this one.

  • It's like sweet, but not too sweet.

  • This black Oolong tea.

  • The taste of black tea and Oolong tea.

  • Black tea and Oolong tea.

  • Thank you.

  • Not too bitter.

  • But a little bit more bitter than the other ones.

  • So this one is fermented longer than the other ones.

  • But not this one.

  • But that's probably why it tasted just a little bit more bitter

  • than the other ones.

  • This is old tea.

  • A 35-year-old tea.

  • So this tea is exactly 35 years old.

  • So, I'm in for a treat today.

  • I'm looking forward to this one.

  • Ready? Okay.

  • It tastes, it tastes luxurious.

  • This tea that we were mentioning

  • that is 35 years old.

  • It's kinda like aged, vintage tea.

  • And actually there's competitions in Taiwan

  • for this kind of tea in particular.

  • So, this shop itself has one award

  • for this particular tea itself.

  • So, about 600g of this

  • is about 10,000 to 15,000 NTD.

  • I'm so lucky today

  • to be able to even drink a little bit of this.

  • If you put all the cups together,

  • and you didn't tell me which was which,

  • I feel like I could still pick this one out.

  • Which tea do you like?

  • This one.

  • This one.

  • Ah, I also like this one.

  • That has the honey inside.

  • I also like this one.

  • I like this one too.

  • I spoke too soon.

  • We're gonna do a test.

  • And I'm gonna try to see if I can pick out my favorite,

  • which has like the honey flavor

  • and the luxurious one.

  • And we switched them to black cups.

  • So, I cannot see.

  • Which cup would you like to guess?

  • Hmm, let me try this one, the first one.

  • Thank you.

  • Is it this one?

  • -This one. -Ah.

  • It's the honey one.

  • How did I not know?

  • Oh no. Am I gonna fail this test?

  • Number two is up next.

  • Ready? Okay.

  • This is so difficult.

  • Is this one?

  • Yeah.

  • Number three.

  • She looks like she knows.

  • Is it this one?

  • Wait a minute.

  • It's this one.

  • Is it?

  • Yeah! Okay, that's what I originally thought.

  • Okay, thank you.

  • Oh no, the last two.

  • Before I choose,

  • I want to try the last one first.

  • It's this one.

  • Okay.

  • Which means the one before

  • which tasted more kind of more floral smooth

  • is this one.

  • Like this.

  • Finishing up my experience today.

  • I was served tea by a tea master in training.

  • While spending the day at CF Tea,

  • I really got to see how special this family business is.

  • They have been working together

  • for five generations.

  • And you can really feel how busy lively life is

  • being on the ground.

  • And I think being surrounded

  • by so much history and roots

  • and family dynamics

  • that it really reminded me

  • of a quote that I really love.

  • And that quote goes like this,

  • family where life begins

  • and love never ends.

  • I would like to thank UTEE for working with me today.

  • To connect Taiwan to the world

  • digitally through YouTube.

  • You can plan your own trip with them.

  • And visit one or more of the 33 tea estates

  • to have an amazing experience much like me.

  • I was lucky enough to get two teas.

  • So this one I'm going to be sending to Japan

  • to my in-laws.

  • This is the special winter tea.

  • And this one,

  • I'm going to be doing a giveaway.

  • So, stay tuned to the end to try some delicious tea.

  • Bye bye.

  • Hey guys, I'm back home now.

  • I have time for the giveaway details.

  • So, if you guys would like to try some amazing Taiwan tea

  • like I had the opportunity to,

  • this is what you gotta do.

  • Very simple.

  • To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is write

  • "I like Taiwan Tea".

  • And please put your Instagram Handle

  • so I can message the winner.

  • One thing to know is that

  • I will be doing this giveaway only within Taiwan.

  • Sorry to all my international viewers.

  • But international shipping is just a little bit difficult right now.

  • From the day this video is published publicly

  • and you guys can see it, I will give a one-week time line.

  • So in one-week's time,

  • I will choose a winner.

  • Thank you so much for watching this video.

  • I hope you guys enjoyed it

  • as much as I enjoyed being there.

  • And don't forget to give this video a thumbs-up.

  • Really helps me out.

  • You can subscribe down below.

  • Catch me on Instagram or Facebook.

  • And I will see you guys in the next video.

  • Bye.

I've been in Taiwan for almost a year now.

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