00:04Kino Luo washes a batch of sweet potatoes,
00:10steams them, and then throws them into a machine to mash them up.
00:15He's not making a pie.
00:16Instead, he's getting ready to brew up some sweet potato liquor.
00:23Sweet potatoes were important to Taiwan's development.
00:27They were accessible, affordable, and nutritious.
00:31Today, Taiwan is known for its domestically developed Tainong 57 sweet potato.
00:36It's known for its silky texture, robust taste, and orange color.
00:4157 is sold everywhere, from street vendors to convenience stores.
00:46They're eaten in countless ways, from oven-roasted to churned into ice cream.
00:51But for all its sweet potato products,
00:54Taiwan did not produce its own sweet potato liquor.
00:57That is, up until Luo decided to begin distilling it himself.
01:01Luo studied in Japan, a country that's known to make sweet potato liquor.
01:06South Korea does as well.
01:08So he always wondered why Taiwan never made its own given the popularity of the 57.
01:14Luo finally took the plunge and pivoted careers after an accident hospitalized his mother.
01:19That close call led Luo to evaluate his life's legacy.
01:35Luo started from nothing, experimenting at home with no equipment and just his hands.
01:52To source the raw materials for his new endeavor, Luo reached out to Li Zhirong, a farmer in Yunlin County.
02:00Li was thrilled to provide a cheap source of sweet potatoes,
02:04because he had large quantities of visually unappealing but otherwise perfectly good product to get rid of.
02:11These hard-to-market crops can make up almost a third of Li's harvest.
02:33The 57 is the heart of Luo's product, but he also incorporates other domestic sweet potato strains into his liquor.
02:41His goal is to showcase the flavors of Taiwan by including as many of the country's elements as he can
02:48into each bottle.
02:50While other distillers adhere to strict temperature controls during their production process,
02:55Luo makes his sweet potato liquor at room temperature.
03:14The result is a clear beverage that contains the heart and soul of Taiwan, one that's won awards all over
03:22the world.
03:23Luo started with minimal knowledge about liquor making.
03:26All he had was an idea and passion.
03:29Today, his drinks have won worldwide acclaim, and he is recognized as a world-class distiller.
03:36Through conviction and commitment to his dream, Luo proves that spirit is not just a drink, but also the key
03:43to success.
03:44This is Lee Sun Sun and Leslie Liao for Taiwan Plus.
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