How I Unlocked Caroline's Tea Room on Day 6 in Stardew Valley

I was originally working on a video to see, on average, how long it takes to reach two hearts with Caroline to make it into her Tea Room in a random run. I'd calculated that it should take 10-14 days on average if you were consistent with talking and gifting, but my 2nd attempt to verify this blew away all of my previous thoughts on what was possible. The tactics I used in this video can be translated to friendship building with any of the townsfolk given a bit of recon to discover their favorite gifts and schedules, but I chose Caroline since her two heart event sets up the ability to produce tea saplings which can be sold outright or cultivated to produce lovely cups of tea.

I set some personal goals along the way for my Caroline challenge runs, and I'd love to hear if you've tried similar methods/goals for early game profits. What would you buy first with your Tea Sapling profits? While there is no need to rush earnings in a casual playthrough, challenge runs typical call for high earning in order to satisfy some typically lofty goals. Profits in Stardew Valley have a way of snowballing, meaning the earlier you make the money the more money you'll likely make...that was a lot of makes, but you get the idea.

0:00 Intro
0:34 C.R.U.S.H
2:38 Run #2
12:50 Day 7
13:57 Outro

Music:
Intro - Aubrey "attempting" Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond on a synth piano simulator
Run #2 - Stardew Valley Overture from the OST
"Are you Having a Laugh" sound clip from Judi Love (Taskmaster S13 E1)

*Edit: Cut out Run #1 on 2/5/2024