Pengfeng Tea (also known as Oriental Beauty Tea or “smoky tea”) is produced in New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli, and belongs to the oolong tea family. It is a uniquely Taiwanese tea variety, crafted from tea buds bitten by insects, which gives it a distinctive ripe honey aroma and makes it immensely popular.
The harvesting season for Pengfeng Tea runs from May to August, with the best quality harvested around the Dragon Boat Festival. While produced across various regions in Taiwan, the highest volume and finest quality come from Shiding and Pinglin in New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli. Making Pengfeng Tea requires not only premium tea leaves but also insect bites for the leaves to release their signature honey aroma. Due to the challenges in harvesting and production, Pengfeng Tea is exceptionally precious. Shiding in New Taipei City, Hsinchu, and Miaoli all host promotional competitions for Pengfeng Tea, where award-winning batches can fetch anywhere from thousands to over NT$100,000 per 600 g—a truly staggering figure.
▲ Pengfeng Tea leaves showing insect bites—the premium raw material for production.
Major Pengfeng Tea production areas across Taiwan hold regular competitions, including the Shiding District’s “Shiding Beauty Tea Festival”, Beipu’s “Beipu Pengfeng Tea Festival”, Hsinchu County’s “Hsinchu Oriental Beauty Tea Competition”, and the “National Oriental Beauty Tea Evaluation Competition”. Because of the large number of participating producers and fierce competition, award-winning competition teas are of an exceptionally high standard. These prize-winning teas are extremely precious, with a single set often priced at over NT$10,000.
▲ The Jacobiasca formosana, an essential insect for making Pengfeng Tea.