Bug Bitten Deep Dive II
Mountain Stream Teas Teaducation Subscription Service
July, 2026
Bug bitten teas are some of the most sought after, and expensive, teas in the Taiwanese market. This month we will take a deep dive into the different styles and quality levels of this most sweet and floral of teas.
What are the teas we will look at this month?
Included this month are:
1. Sanxia White Tea, 400m elevation, 0% Oxidization, handpicked in May 2026, Sanxia, New Taipei, Qinxin Gan Zhe
Tasting notes: Sweet floral, smooth and soft vegetal
2. Competition Grade Eastern Beauty, 300m elevation, 65% Oxidization, Qinxin Da Mou, hand picked in June, 2026, Emei, Hsinchu
Tasting notes: Honey, fruit and florals
3. High Quality Honey Fragrance Black Tea A and B, 450m elevation, hand picked in May, 2026, Rueishui, Hualien County, Jinxuan, 99% oxidization
Tasting notes: Sweet honey, rich rose florals, malt
4. 2010s ‘Te Se’Bug Bitten Oolong, 450m elevation, machine picked in the 2010s, Jinxuan, most likely Mingjian
Tasting notes: Sweet honey notes, normal oolong
5. Bug Bitten Muzha Oolong, 500m elevation, 30% oxidation, hand picked in May, 2025, Wuyi Cultivar, Muzha, New Taipei City
Tasting notes: Cotten Candy sweet, classic greenish oolong, woody
What Are ‘Bug Bitten’ Teas?
While tea leaves can be bitten by many different bugs, when a tea is labeled ‘bug bitten’ that usually means that the Green Leaf Hopper (or the current more fashionable name Tea Jassid) has availed itself of the sweet nectar within those certain leaves. When the green leaf hopper feeds on the young buds of the tea plant, the defense mechanism of the tea plant is to secrete a sticky substance high in caffeine that we conveniently perceive to taste like honey. This caffeine rich substance gives a green leaf hopper the bug equivalent of an anxiety attack and it hops to the next bud to drink. If a leaf is expertly plucked and processed while this substance is still on the leaves, the taste points so sought after by the tea world will manifest. Namely, sweet wild honey, red rose florals, and sweet yellow rich fruit like peaches or grapes.
In this month’s box, we have a bunch of teas that help you isolate what our taste buds perceive to be so sweet — the ‘tears’ of the young tea buds that we enjoy so much!
Bug Bites And Oxidization
The sweet substance that makes bug bitten teas ‘Bug Bitten’ has been experimented with over the years by Taiwanese Tea Masters and it was found that a higher oxidization of a bug bitten tea brings out the special and unique taste points so recognizable in the genre. Oriental/Eastern Beauty and Honey Fragrance Black Teas are the most famous versions of this style and we believe are the ‘best’ expression of this type of tea. There are other kinds of bug bitten teas of course, and the other teas are a great example of those.
With the Muzha brew, the honey taste is isolated from the rest of the taste points and is a fascinating first sweet blast as the tea is steeped. The sweetness only lasts a couple steeps however, as with the greener teas the bug bites don’t truly ‘meld’ with the tea as in the higher oxidized oolongs. In this case, after the first couple of steeps the sweetness is gone and the taste points return to just greenish oolong. While drinking the Muzha Green Oolong, see if you can isolate the ‘honey fragrance’ from the tea itself!
The 2010s Oolong is another example of this effect as the sweet flavor is aged, but only lasts a couple steeps before the rather mediocre oolong takes over. We included this year’s Sanxia White as it has been lightly bitten by bugs as well, so you can see the difference between a ‘sweet’ white tea and ‘sweet’ bug bites. There are two different sweet tastes in this years Sanxia White.
Honey Fragrance Black A Vs B
In past boxes we have done comparisons of different days, oxidization levels, cultivar, terroir and more. This month, we compare a boring vs afternoon pick of the EXACT same tea! Picked by the same hands and processed the exact same way from the exact same tea garden, the only difference is when the leaves were picked.
Morning Pick: Slightly lighter, more watered down, softer
Afternoon Pick: Stronger flavor, more balanced, wider mouthfeel
This difference in flavor is mostly due to the fact that the leaves in the morning are more hydrated than the leaves picked in the afternoon heat. That dehydration of the leaves in the afternoon causes a concentration of flavor and is generally considered to taste better than the morning leaves.
How To Compare The Teas
You can use the standard brewing process that is on the packages but these teas offer a great chance to try ‘bowl brewing’. Take 3-5g of each tea, throw it in similar size bowls, add boiling water and leave it for a while. You can taste them hot and as it cools down as well and it gives a very good idea of the nature of the teas.
The Mystery
This month’s mystery is to see if you can tell the different between the morning and evening picks of the exact same tea. It isn’t easy this month! Can you tell the difference? Which one is better?
The August Box
The August box will be filled with the winners of the annual Cold Brew Contest!
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