Táiwān chéngchá

Taiwan Cheng Cha (Táiwān chéngchá, 臺灣橙茶) is “Taiwan orange tea,” or “Taiwan tangerine tea.” This is not tea with orange, but a tea leaf processing technology that the Tea and Beverage Crop Improvement Station of the Taiwan Ministry of Agriculture (農業部茶及飲料作物改良場) presented on August 3, 2024, and promotes as a new tea class. The Station’s descriptions mention neither orange nor any other citrus: only the leaf, which undergoes prolonged withering, brief heat fixation, slight rolling, and is left to “ferment” during shade drying. The Station calls the technology labor-saving and low-carbon (省工、低碳, shěnggōng, dītàn), designs it for machine-harvested leaf, and states that it can be used to make tea from various Taiwanese cultivars, both mass-market and premium. A trademark application has been filed for the name, and a patent application for the technology. The tea class according to its technology is not independently established: “new class” is the developer’s position.

1. Classification and Origin

• Type: Not independently established. The Station classifies 臺灣橙茶 as a new tea class: in its press releases it is called 新茶類 (xīn chálèi), 創新茶類 (chuàngxīn chálèi), and 新興茶類 (xīnxīng chálèi), and the Station states that it released this technology 16 years after the red oolong technology (紅烏龍茶, hóng wūlóng chá) of 2008. No standard or scientific publication that would assign it to any class was found in the sources. The oxidation degree is not specified in the primary texts.
• Comparison with the six classes: The sources do not resolve this question; below is an editorial comparison of operations, not a classification by any authority.
  • Prolonged withering brings it closer to white tea, but classic white tea undergoes neither fixation nor rolling, while here both are present.
  • Rolling and the “fermentation” stage resemble oolong and black tea, but here “fermentation” takes place after fixation.
  • The very order “first fixation, then leaf transformation” is not unique: yellow tea (fixation, then “yellowing,” 闷黄, mènhuáng) and dark tea (fixation and rolling, then wet piling, 渥堆, wòduī) are similarly structured.
  • The novelty, if judged by the Station’s descriptions, comes from combining heavy pre-fixation withering with controlled post-fixation “fermentation” during shade drying.
• Category: A technological category of Taiwanese tea: a leaf processing method applicable to different cultivars and in different regions. It is not a bush cultivar and not a regional style. According to the Station, 臺灣橙茶 suits both premium (精品, jīngpǐn) and mass-market (商用, shāngyòng) tea.
• Developer: Tea and Beverage Crop Improvement Station (農業部茶及飲料作物改良場, abbreviated 茶改場, Chágǎichǎng). Founded in 1903; it received its current name in 2023 (year 112 of the Republic of China), when it was reorganized together with the establishment of the Ministry of Agriculture.
• Origin: Taiwan (臺灣, Táiwān). A Station press release posted on the ministry website in December 2024 names three districts where local teas are made or competitions are held using this technology: Sanxia (三峽區, Sānxiá qū) in New Taipei, Longtan (龍潭區, Lóngtán qū) in Taoyuan, and Liugui (六龜, Liùguī) in Kaohsiung. Details are in section 13.
• Legal status: According to the Station press release, a trademark registration application has been filed for the name “臺灣橙茶,” and a patent application for the technology has been filed with the Intellectual Property Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (經濟部智慧財產局). Application numbers, dates, and outcomes are not provided in the sources found.
• Geographic coordinates: None unified: the technology is not tied to a place, and the coordinates of producing districts are not given in the verified sources.

2. History and Cultural Significance

• History:
  • 1903. The station now called the Tea and Beverage Crop Improvement Station is founded.
  • 2008. The Station releases the red oolong technology (紅烏龍茶). Later, the Station will count the time until 臺灣橙茶 from this point: the new class, according to its statement, was released “16 years” after the red oolong technology.
  • 2023. The Station receives its current name upon the creation of the Ministry of Agriculture.
  • August 3, 2024. At the celebration of the Station’s reorganization anniversary (the 121st anniversary from its founding), the “new class, 臺灣橙茶” is presented together with the new cultivar 臺茶26號 “豐鶴” (Táichá 26 hào “Fēnghè”); guests taste it for the first time. In the press release of that day, the technology is described as labor-saving and low-carbon, intended for machine-harvested leaf: heavy withering, moderate pan-fire fixation (炒菁, chǎoqīng) with rolling, and controlled “fermentation.” The taste features a floral-fruity aroma, fresh and rounded.
  • August 2024. News of the technology is retold by Russian-language tea reviews, with processing parameters absent from the Station press releases read (section 5).
  • December 2024. A Station press release posted on the ministry website on December 31 describes in detail the cultivars, season, contribution of each operation to taste, results of chemical analysis, trademark and patent applications, and local products. At the Station’s press conference, local products were presented by the secretaries-general of the farmers’ associations of Sanxia and Longtan districts and a representative of Kaohsiung; the Longtan association held its first competition (評鑑, píngjiàn) of 臺灣橙茶.
• Name:
  • 臺灣 (Táiwān) means Taiwan; 橙 (chéng) means “orange” and “orange color”; 茶 (chá) means tea. The traditional character spelling is as in the Station’s press releases; the Station’s text also uses the short form 橙茶. The publication foodNEXT writes 台灣橙茶; the simplified form 台湾橙茶 does not appear in the sources read.
  • Why “orange.” The Station does not explain the name in the texts read, and its origin is not established. Versions are offered only by a vendor and a Russian-language review: a Taiwanese vendor links the name to the orange-red color of the infusion, and the review allows a reference both to the infusion color and to the taste-aroma profile. There is no primary confirmation for either version.
  • Russian forms. “Taiwan Cheng Cha” is a transcription from Russian-language reviews (where “Taiwan Chen Cha” also occurs); the same sources contain the translations “Taiwan tangerine tea” and “Taiwan orange tea.”
  • English name. The form Taiwan Orange Tea occurs in Russian-language reviews; a Taiwanese vendor writes orange tea. The Station’s official English name is not established, and sources diverge here: the Station’s tea page in search results is titled “Taiwan Brown Tea,” but the page itself did not open, and one Taiwanese vendor uses both “orange tea” and “brown tea” on the same page.
  • Reading. The sources do not provide a tone reading for the name. Táiwān chéngchá is the standard reading of the characters.
• Cultural significance: For the Taiwanese tea industry, this is a claim to a new class made by the state tea station, according to its words the first such development in 16 years since the red oolong technology. The Station presents 臺灣橙茶 as a way to make tea from machine-harvested leaf with lower labor costs, and local farmers’ associations as a basis for their own district names and competitions. Recognition of the “new class” outside Taiwan, in standards or scientific literature, is absent from the sources found.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

• Cultivar / Variety: There is no single cultivar: according to the Station, quality 臺灣橙茶 can be obtained from both small-leaf and large-leaf cultivars. The press release names:
  • Qing Xin Gan Zai (青心柑仔, qīngxīn gānzǎi), according to the secretary-general of the Sanxia farmers’ association a cultivar characteristic of that district;
  • 臺茶17號 “White Egret” (白鷺, báilù), according to the Longtan association the cultivar most widely planted on Taiwan precisely in this district; the cultivar has pronounced white down;
  • 臺茶18號, about which cultivar and its black tea the encyclopedia has an article “Taiwan Hong Yu No. 18”;
  • 臺茶19號 and 臺茶20號;
  • 臺茶23號, recorded in the press release as “祈韻,” while in the encyclopedia the cultivar is known as “Qi Yun” (祁韻); the character discrepancy is not resolved;
  • mountain tea (山茶, shānchá), listed by the Station among Taiwanese tea cultivars.
• Cultivars for mass-market tea: If the goal is mass-market tea, the Station recommends cultivars with upright bushes and vigorous growth, highly resistant to diseases and drought, such as 臺茶23號, with machine harvesting. Such tea, according to its statement, is unusual in taste, inexpensive to produce, and eco-friendly.
• Cultivars for premium tea: According to the Station, districts can adapt the technology to their cultivars and growing conditions and make their own premium 臺灣橙茶.
• Harvest: The technology is designed for machine-harvested leaf (機採茶菁, jīcǎi cháqīng). The best quality, according to the Station, is in the “June White” (六月白, liùyuè bái, literally “white of the sixth month”) season, that is approximately from early July to mid-August.
• Harvest standard: The sources do not specify how many leaves and what part of the shoot are taken.
• Raw material requirements: Apart from cultivar advice, the Station does not formulate raw material requirements. A Russian-language review calls the technology’s main commercial feature its relatively low requirements for raw material quality and low production cost. Low production cost with machine harvesting is confirmed by the Station as well; the opinion about raw material requirements is not confirmed by primary texts.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

• Region: The technology is not tied to a place: the Station describes it as a processing method applicable to different cultivars in different regions of Taiwan. Examples known from the press release are the districts of Sanxia (New Taipei), Longtan (Taoyuan), and Liugui (Kaohsiung).
• Growing altitude: Not described for the category as a whole; the producing districts have no such data in the verified sources.
• Climate and soils: No data for the category or for individual districts.
• Local raw material features: At the Station’s press conference, the associations named two. In Longtan, the pronounced white down of the “White Egret” cultivar; in Sanxia, the silvery-white buds (毫心, háoxīn) of tea from the local Qing Xin Gan Zai. According to the Longtan association, buds on which the green leafhopper (小綠葉蟬, xiǎo lǜ yèchán) fed produce a distinct honey note. The sources do not describe how gardens are managed for the leafhopper.

5. Production Technology

The Station describes the operations in words and explains what each contributes to taste, but the press releases read contain no parameters: hours, temperatures, humidity. The numbers below are taken from a Russian-language retelling of a Station publication (August 2024) and from the page of one Taiwanese tea vendor (2025); they have no primary confirmation and diverge from each other in places.

1. Heavy withering (重萎凋, zhòng wěidiāo). According to the Station, it creates sweetness of infusion and a rounded, smooth taste. Duration: 48 hours in the Russian-language retelling, 36 to 60 hours according to the vendor.
2. Short high-temperature fixation (短時間的高溫殺菁, duǎn shíjiān de gāowēn shāqīng). According to the Station, it removes grassy, “green” tones (菁雜味, qīngzá wèi). In the August press release, the same stage is called moderate pan-fire fixation (適度炒菁, shìdù chǎoqīng). The numbers diverge: the Russian-language retelling says three minutes at 80 °C, which poorly agrees with the Station’s “high-temperature” fixation; the vendor writes of a pan at 180–220 °C for 2–3 minutes and a leaf temperature of about 80 °C. What exactly was measured at 80 °C is not established.
3. Brief rolling (短暫揉捻, duǎnzàn róuniǎn). According to the Station, it adds layering to the taste.
4. Shade drying with controlled “fermentation” (陰乾控制發酵, yīngān kòngzhì fājiào). According to the Station, it enriches the fruity aroma. The sources do not explain what happens to the leaf at this stage after fixation. The duration diverges three times in the sources: “within 24 hours” in one Russian-language retelling, “two hours” in another version of the same news, and “4–12 hours according to the official recommendation” from the vendor, who does not name the primary source of this recommendation.
5. Drying and finishing (乾燥, gānzào; 精緻, jīngzhì). These steps are absent from the Station press releases read; they appear in the caption to the Station’s diagram in the publication foodNEXT (精緻 as in the caption). The drying regime in the Russian-language retelling is 10 minutes at 100 °C, then 3 hours at 70 °C; according to the vendor, about 10 minutes at 100–120 °C, then at 60–80 °C from 10–20 minutes and longer.

The order of steps is inferred from the order of enumeration in the sources: the word “then” is absent from the primary texts. According to the Russian-language retelling, all operations can be performed on standard tea equipment; this is not verified by the primary text. The Station calls the technology labor-saving and low-carbon; in the same retelling, Station specialists say the new tea’s carbon footprint will be smaller than that of other teas. The primary texts contain no figures for labor, energy, or emissions savings.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

There is no standardized tasting description of the class. Below is what the Station and local associations write, with attribution; descriptions of local products are not transferred to the entire class.

• Dry leaf appearance: The Station has no general description. In the Longtan “Xue Mei Ren,” according to the district association, the buds are curved, with pronounced white down; in the Sanxia “Bai Mei Ren,” according to the district association’s secretary-general, there are silvery-white buds, for which the tea was named the “white beauty.”
• Dry leaf aroma: No descriptions in the verified sources.
• Infusion aroma: According to the Station, floral-fruity (花果香, huāguǒ xiāng). A common feature of 臺灣橙茶, according to its chemical analysis, is a woody aroma resembling pine. The profile varies by cultivar: tea from 臺茶23號 and mountain tea has stronger fruity and sweet aroma, while tea from 臺茶18號 acquires green and spicy notes. In the Russian-language retelling of the Station publication, its specialists name gardenia, wild ginger flower, guava, pear, olive tree, fresh grass, and mint; the Chinese names of these notes are absent from the retelling, and what stands behind “olive tree” is unknown. In Longtan tea from buds on which the leafhopper fed, according to the association, there is a distinct honey note.
• Taste: According to the Station, fresh and rounded (清爽圓潤, qīngshuǎng yuánrùn): heavy withering gives sweetness and smoothness, brief rolling gives layering. Tea from 臺茶18號, according to the Station, is strong in taste with a long aftertaste; tea from mountain tea is the sweetest and freshest (鮮甜, xiāntián).
• Infusion color: The Station has no general description. The infusion of Longtan “Xue Mei Ren,” according to the district association, is orange-yellow (橙黃, chénghuáng), transparent and bright.
• Wet leaf (brewed leaf): No descriptions in the verified sources.

7. Chemical Composition

No complete physicochemical description of the class exists in the sources found; the press release does not provide the analysis method, samples, or absolute values.

• Aromatic substances: According to the Station’s chemical analysis, a common feature of 臺灣橙茶 is a woody aroma resembling pine; the Station points to terpineol, γ-terpinene, and pinene (松油醇、γ-松油烯及蒎烯).
• Polyphenols and catechins: According to the Station, tea from 臺茶18號 has high total polyphenol and catechin content, hence the strong taste with a long aftertaste.
• Amino acids and sugars: According to the Station, tea from mountain tea has more free amino acids, theanine (茶胺酸, chá’ànsuān), and reducing sugars, hence the sweetest taste.
• Comparison with white tea: According to the Russian-language retelling, the Station’s studies found more amino acids, sugars, polyphenols, and aromatic substances with fruity scent in the new tea than in white tea. Which white tea was compared and on how many samples is unknown; the primary text of this comparison was not read.
• Alkaloids, vitamins, minerals: No data in the verified sources.

8. Health Benefits

There are no verified data on the effect of this specific tea on health: the Station makes no health claims in the texts read, and no human studies are present in the sources found. The content of polyphenols, catechins, amino acids, and theanine mentioned by the Station’s chemical analysis (section 7) describes the beverage’s composition, not its effect, so no medicinal properties are attributed to it here.

9. Brewing

The Station gives no brewing recommendations in the texts read. Below is general practice, as for most white teas and light oolongs closest to it in processing; this is an orientation, not established parameters for 臺灣橙茶.

• Water temperature: As for most white teas and light oolongs, 85–95 °C; hotter water usually yields a denser infusion.
• Amount of tea: As for most loose-leaf teas brewed with short infusions, 4–5 g per 100–150 ml of water.
• Vessel: Gaiwan (盖碗, gàiwǎn) or a small porcelain teapot: they make it easy to observe the leaf and adjust steeping time.
• Process:
  1. Warm the vessel with hot water.
  2. Add the tea and let it warm in the warm vessel.
  3. Rinse optionally, with a quick pour.
  4. First infusion: about 20–30 seconds.
  5. Pour out the infusion completely, leaving no water on the leaf.
  6. Repeat infusions with gradually increasing time. The sources do not report how many infusions this tea withstands.

10. Storage

The sources say nothing about storage conditions or aging of 臺灣橙茶. General practice for loose-leaf teas, and not data about this tea: tightly closed opaque packaging, a dry cool place without direct light and foreign odors. How the tea changes during storage and whether it is suitable for aging is unknown.

11. Price and Counterfeits

No price guidelines suitable for an encyclopedia exist in the verified sources. The Station sees two markets for the technology: mass-market tea from machine-harvested leaf with low production cost, and premium local teas that districts make under their own names. The price order depends on which of these is meant.

• How to avoid confusion and counterfeits:
  • “Orange” is not citrus. Tea stuffed into a mandarin or orange, or blended with peel, is a different product (section 14). In the Station’s descriptions, 臺灣橙茶 is only processed tea leaf.
  • The trademark is not yet helpful. The Station has filed a trademark application for the name “臺灣橙茶,” but the outcome is unknown, so the trademark cannot yet be relied upon for verification.
  • An English label proves nothing. English forms Taiwan Orange Tea, orange tea, and brown tea occur in the sources, and the official English name is not established.
  • Local names. “Bai Mei Ren” from Sanxia and “Xue Mei Ren” from Longtan are local products made with this technology; the consonance of “美人” does not make them Oriental Beauty (東方美人), and vice versa.
  • Cultivar and district. For each local product, the associations name the cultivar: in Sanxia, Qing Xin Gan Zai; in Longtan, “White Egret” (臺茶17號). A discrepancy with this is a reason to question the seller.

12. Interesting Facts

• The Station that presented 臺灣橙茶 was founded in 1903; the new class was shown at the celebration of its anniversary on August 3, 2024, together with the new cultivar 臺茶26號 “豐鶴.”
• According to the Station, 臺灣橙茶 was released 16 years after its red oolong technology (2008).
• The common feature of this “orange” tea, according to the Station’s chemical analysis, is not a citrus but a woody aroma resembling pine.
• The technology was conceived for machine-harvested leaf: the Station calls it labor-saving and low-carbon.
• One of the local versions, the “Snow Beauty” from Longtan, is made from the “White Egret” cultivar, which, according to the association, is more widely planted in this district than anywhere else on Taiwan.

13. Varieties: Local Products and Competitions

According to the Station, districts can adapt the technology to their cultivars and conditions and make their own premium 臺灣橙茶. The December 2024 press release gives three examples; these are local products and competitions, not subclasses of the class.

• Sanxia Bai Mei Ren (三峽白美人, Sānxiá báiměirén), New Taipei. According to the secretary-general of the Sanxia district farmers’ association at the Station’s press conference, it is made from the district’s characteristic cultivar Qing Xin Gan Zai using the 臺灣橙茶 technology, and the name “white beauty” was given for the silvery-white buds. The association holds a “臺灣橙茶-白美人茶” competition.
• Longtan Xue Mei Ren (龍潭雪美人茶, Lóngtán xuěměirén chá), Taoyuan. The “Snow Beauty” from the cultivar 臺茶17號 “White Egret”: according to the district association, more of this cultivar is planted in Longtan than anywhere on Taiwan, and the product is built on its pronounced white down. The buds are curved with noticeable down, the infusion is orange-yellow, transparent and bright; buds on which the leafhopper fed give a honey note. The Longtan association held its first 臺灣橙茶 competition and holds a “臺灣橙茶-雪美人茶” competition.
• Liugui Mountain Tea (六龜, Kaohsiung). According to the Kaohsiung representative at the press conference, tea growers in Liugui, with support from Station specialists, make mountain tea using the 臺灣橙茶 technology, combining pronounced fruity aroma with the special taste of mountain tea. The Taiwan mountain tea competition held by the Kaohsiung government (臺灣山茶評鑑) includes 臺灣橙茶.

14. Comparison with Similar Teas

• Tea in citrus and with citrus: Gan Jie Cha (柑桔茶), Da Hong Gan, and other teas in mandarin (柑普, gānpǔ): there, tea is placed inside the fruit or blended with peel, and the citrus is part of the product. In 臺灣橙茶, “orange” is only part of the name: the Station’s descriptions contain no citrus.
• White tea (白茶, báichá): prolonged withering is a shared feature, but classic white tea undergoes neither fixation nor rolling, while 臺灣橙茶 undergoes both operations. A Russian-language review considers its technology closest to white tea and writes that the new tea was compared specifically with white tea in laboratory studies. One Taiwanese vendor’s position is inconsistent: on one page, he calls 臺灣橙茶 both “a completely new type of tea, not a continuation of white tea,” and “a continuation of white tea and a development of oolong.”
• Taiwan Qing Xin Bai Cha (臺灣青心白茶): the same Qing Xin Gan Zai cultivar and prolonged withering, but, according to the encyclopedia article, without fixation: withering, light rolling, oxidation, and drying. According to the same article, it is an authorial experimental tea, not a Station technology.
• Red oolong, Taitung Luye Hong Oolong (臺東鹿野紅烏龍): the Station technology of 2008, from which the Station itself counts the “16 years” to 臺灣橙茶; by class, red oolong is an oolong.
• Yellow and dark teas: like 臺灣橙茶, their leaf transformation takes place after fixation: “yellowing” in yellow tea and wet piling in dark tea. Heavy pre-fixation withering is absent from their classic schemes.
• Base cultivars, Taiwan Qi Yun No. 23 (臺茶23號祁韻) and Taiwan Hong Yu No. 18 (臺茶18號紅玉): in the encyclopedia, these are articles about the cultivars and their black teas; 臺灣橙茶 from the same cultivars is a different product of a different technology.
• Oriental Beauty, Dongfang Mei Ren (東方美人, dōngfāng měirén): the consonance of “美人” in the names of the Sanxia and Longtan teas, and the honey note from the leafhopper in Longtan, call it to mind, but the sources do not claim any connection with Oriental Beauty.

In conclusion:

Taiwan Cheng Cha is a tea born not from a mountain or a cultivar, but from a technology that a state tea station released with a date, a name, and a patent application. Prolonged withering, brief hot fixation, light rolling, and shade “fermentation” produce, according to the Station’s description, a floral-fruity tea with a fresh rounded taste and a pine woody note, all of this, if its descriptions are to be believed, without a single slice of orange.

Much about it remains unknown: processing parameters, the official English name, the origin of the word “orange,” its place among classes outside Taiwan. For those watching how tea classification is being expanded in real time, it shows how this happens: the technology, the local “white” and “snow” beauties, and district competitions appeared before the answers to these questions.

Sources

Documents and publications

1. 茶改場研發臺灣橙茶為百年茶產業注入新生命 — 農業部「田邊好幫手」(m.moa.gov.tw); 資料來源: 農業部茶葉及飲料作物改良場
2. 茶改場研發臺灣橙茶為百年茶產業注入新生命 - 農業知識入口網 — 農業知識入口網 (kmweb.moa.gov.tw); 刊登日 113/12/31
3. 越雙甲歡慶改制周年 茶改場以創新思維展現茶業永續生命力 — 農業知識入口網 (kmweb.moa.gov.tw), «茶葉主題館»; 更新日期 113/10/15
4. 越雙甲歡慶改制周年 茶改場以創新思維展現茶業永續生命力 | 蕃新聞 — 蕃新聞 (n.yam.com)
5. 兼具獨特風味和環保製程的「台灣橙茶」！省工低碳的專利新製程讓不同葉種皆能製成品質優異的台灣茶！ — 食力 foodNEXT, «整理＝編輯部»; 2024/12/30
6. What is Orange Tea? An Analysis of the Processing, Flavor, and Origin Characteristics of Taiwan's Seventh Tea Category — Han-Yi, Tea Master — Han-Yi (hanyitea.tw); updated 2025/07/21
7. 茶改場研發臺灣橙茶為百年茶產業注入新生命 | 蕃新聞 — 蕃新聞 (n.yam.com)

Full list — on the Sources page