The Taste of Taitung in the Highlands: Mulberry Leaf Tea and Cakes with a Subtle Aroma

Text and photos by /25 Degrees of Blankness

In recent years, many people have returned to Chishang to start their own businesses—not just young people, but also middle-aged families who had once achieved success in their careers. The "Sunny Barn" workshop near Chishang Railway Station is a small shop opened by a pair of middle-aged sisters who decided to return home after ending their careers in western Taiwan. They named the shop “Sunny Barn” after their Amis father’s name, Buda (which means “an open space for drying things” in the Amis language).

Currently, the shop not only sells rice grown by the family in Chishang, but also offers cakes and drinks made by the sisters using Chishang rice and fruits from Taitung. The full flavors of Chishang and Taitung can be found in these pastries and beverages—you can even catch a whiff of Taitung in them.

As soon as you walk into the shop, you see books.

Here I discovered a drink I hadn’t seen before—mulberry leaf tea. I knew that sericulture used to thrive in Chishang for a time because Taiwan was once a major producer of silk quilts, and mulberry trees were everywhere. But eventually, the industry declined, and the mulberry fields disappeared. However, there are still quite a few wild mulberry trees around; they’re just no longer utilized. One day, the male owner of the shop came across information about the many amazing health benefits of mulberry leaf tea and got the idea to develop mulberry-based products. The interior of the shop is bright and simple, and it also displays photography works by the male owner.

Mulberry leaves are picked in the mountains with help from his mother and relatives. Why involve his elderly mother? Because, as the male owner explained, she has excellent eyesight and can spot wild mulberry trees instantly in mixed forests. Also, since the trees are very tall, it takes several people to harvest the leaves. Being wild, the leaves are completely natural and free of chemicals. After picking, the leaves must be washed, dried, and then sorted. On the day I visited, I saw adorable grandmothers helping with the sorting.

Once the leaves are sorted, the rest can be used to make mulberry leaf tea. The dried leaves are ground into powder and combined with broken rice from their own stock to create mulberry leaf rice cakes.

I really like the taste of the mulberry leaf tea—it has a fragrance somewhat similar to genmaicha (brown rice tea). That day, feeling a bit chilled, I kept drinking it and felt very comforted.

This mulberry leaf rice cake and mulberry leaf tea combo is the afternoon tea set that won the “Most Creative Local Ingredient Development Award” at the 3rd Origin Table competition.

The interior of Sunny Barn is also very cozy, especially since the male owner loves photography and has displayed many of his works inside, which are quite pleasing to the eye.

According to the two Pan sisters, they used to run a factory in western Taiwan. I imagine that after ending decades of hard work and exhaustion, they would place even more emphasis on health.

Coming to Sunny Barn, having a pastry infused with the aroma of Chishang rice paired with fragrant mulberry leaf tea, while admiring the male owner’s photography works, this mulberry field afternoon tea feels especially relaxing. It carries the most local essence of Chishang, evoking thoughts of the past and present lives of mulberry leaves here. I imagine there must be many stories buried beneath the trunks of those mulberry trees.

Contact number: 0988358005
Address: No. 316-1, Zhongshan Road, Chishang Township, Taitung County
Afternoon tea price: NT$120
Please make a reservation for groups of 10 or more
 

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