News
Chaozhou and Fujian Oolong Carry Different Red Rust Algae
A survey of 785 composite leaf samples found one alga dominant in Chaozhou and the only one identified in Fujian, at 46.59% and 7.58% positivity.
Taiwan Runs Its First Star-Certified Tea Competition
The 2026 Global Tea Excellence Awards drew 440 entries from 12 countries to a three-day Taipei judging, scored on a published point scale by a panel that includes judges with no stake in tea's own conventions.
In Mice, 1 g/kg Won on Inflammation and 2 g/kg on Tissue
A mouse study of oolong tea polyphenols against high uric acid reports two safety measures that point at different doses, and a conclusion that follows only one of them.
The 'Taiwan-Style' Oolong That Was Never From Taiwan
Zhangping, a Fujian county, grows oolong under a national standard written for a style that never crossed the strait. Land, not origin, is what the standard actually measures.
Chaozhou Names Seven Tea Kings Across Its Phoenix Dancong Classes
Two days of final blind judging on 355 spring samples closed July 9, with a single Tea King crowned in each of seven classes, from honey orchid to Lingtou dancong.
Oolong's Astringency Peaks Lower Than Green Tea's, a Study Finds
Researchers at Hunan Agricultural University tracked astringency second by second in six teas and reported oolong's builds slower than green tea's, alternating between "rough" and "dry."
Chaozhou Closes Entries for Its Eighth Phoenix Dancong Contest, Judging Set for July 8
The Guangdong championship stopped taking spring-tea samples July 1 and will judge ten single-bush classes over three days, from honey orchid to duck shit aroma.
Alishan Drought Cut Tea Output About 30 to 40%, Official Says
A dry spring delayed Alishan's high-mountain tea harvest and cut output 30 to 40 percent, Taiwanese officials said as the region announced its 2026 tea-competition winners.
China Tightens the Grading Standard for Wuyi Rock Tea
The revised GB/T 18745-2026 standard builds a quantified sensory system for judging the prized "rock rhyme" of Wuyi oolong and, for the first time, defines aged rock tea. It takes effect on 1 April 2027.
A 35-Year-Old Oolong, Down to Its Last Dozen Catties, Poured for the Public
At a drought-thinned Nantou competition, a 35-year-old aged oolong valued near NT$100,000 a catty was set out for anyone who came to taste it.
Wuyishan Judges Its Old-Bush Shui Xian Before the Roast
At Yangzhuang's first walked-water competition on June 27, judges graded old-bush Shui Xian in its lightly finished state, before the finishing roast that usually defines Wuyi rock tea, to read the raw craft and the mountain plot without the fire.
Muzha's Top Tieguanyin Goes to a Father-and-Daughter First
Zhang Ya-han won the special award at Taipei's 2026 spring Muzha Tieguanyin competition, a year after her father took the same prize, the first back-to-back father-daughter win. Her winning tea priced at NT$30,000 a catty and sold out the day results posted.
Tea-and-Aging Study Everyone Shared Barely Looked at Oolong
A 2025 tea-and-aging review found tea may guard against several diseases of age, and a ScienceDaily write-up sent it around again this June. Almost all of it rests on green tea, and the authors say plainly that oolong is little studied.
Taiwan Turns Its Only Wild Tea Into a High-GABA Oolong
The Tea and Beverage Research Station has processed a GABA oolong from Tai Cha No. 24, the island's only domesticated native wild tea, at 249 milligrams of GABA per 100 grams.
Lugu Names a Dong Ding Champion From a Shrunken Field
Drought cut entries to Lugu's spring Dong Ding Oolong competition to 3,711 from 4,401.
Drought Collapses Phoenix Dan Cong's Staggered Spring Into One Rush
Drought and heat overlapped the early, mid and late cultivars that Phoenix Dan Cong growers normally pick in turn, shortened the season to a 40-day scramble, and cut output by as much as 30% in places, two reports said.
Zheng Yongshun Takes Top Prize at New Taipei's 2026 Spring Wenshan Baozhong Competition
Pinglin tea grower Zheng Yongshun won the special award in New Taipei City's 2026 spring Wenshan Baozhong tea competition, judged over six days against a record 1,825 entries.
Da Hong Pao Mother Trees Named a National Conservation Case
China's environment ministry named the germplasm protection of the six Da Hong Pao mother stems one of ten national conservation cases for 2026, citing 3,299 preserved tea specimens and five new cultivars bred from the program.
Drones Now Carry Wuyi's Rock Tea Off the Cliffs It Grows On
More than 70 drones are flying over 600 trips a day out of Wuyi Mountain's steepest gardens this spring, lifting freshly picked leaf out of the cliff-and-gorge terrain where the region's prized zhengyan tea grows.
Drought Cuts Entries to Lugu's 50th Dong Ding Competition by 16 Percent
A dry January left some Lugu tea gardens near total loss, and entries to the township's landmark 50th-anniversary Dong Ding Oolong competition fell from 4,400 to 3,714.
Emei Holds Taiwan's First Festival for the Insect That Bites Its Tea
The Hsinchu township staged a rite for the small green leafhopper, the pest whose bite gives Oriental Beauty oolong its honey aroma and the reason the crop is never sprayed.
Anxi's Tieguanyin Season Opens, With a Kung Fu Robot
Anxi county opened its 2026 spring Tieguanyin season on April 14 with the traditional mountain-shout rite, more than 5,800 tonnes of spring tea already under contract, and a kung-fu robot greeting guests at the gate.
Study Finds Sharper Lab Test for Tieguanyin Season, Roast
A new study reports a machine-learning method that tells spring Tieguanyin from autumn, and light roast from dark, at 90.9 percent accuracy from the tea's chemical fingerprint.
Wuyi Growers Hold Mountain-Calling Rite at Da Hong Pao
Tea growers chanted for a good harvest at Wuyi Mountain's Jiulongke gorge on the spring equinox, opening a season for a rock tea industry the city now puts at 17 billion yuan a year.
Vietnamese Tea Sold as Dong Ding Reached a TWG Counter in Taipei 101
A 60-year-old Taipei tea house blended Vietnamese leaf into tea sold as Taiwan Dong Ding oolong, some of it reaching a TWG counter in Taipei 101, prosecutors said.