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Bug-bitten oolong? The secret behind Taiwan’s rare honey-flavored tea — and where to enjoy it
Ethena

As the leaves rustle atop the hills in Nantou, Taiwan’s largest tea-producing area, the farm suddenly comes alive, millions of tiny green bugs hopping into the air.

While many farmers might frown at the sight of these pests munching on their crops, Lee Ming-cheng, a third-generation tea farmer and maker, can’t hide the broad smile on his sun-kissed face.

This “green insect fog,” as locals call it, is a sign they’ll have a good harvest of Gui Fei Oolong (also known as Honey Flavor Dong Ding Oolong or Concubine Oolong), a special tea that’s prized for offering a hint of honey flavor.

And it’s these endemic insects, called Jacobiasca formosana, or tea jassids, that are to thank for it.

When the jassids feed, the leaves go into defensive mode and produce a sweetened hormone that tastes and smells like honey, creating one of the world’s most intriguing teas: mixiang cha, or honey-fragrance tea.

The bug-bitten leaves are oxidized and roasted to create a variety of beverages. There’s mixiang black tea (made with fully oxidized leaves) and oolong teas like Oriental Beauty (partially oxidized and not roasted) and the previously mentioned Concubine Tea (partially oxidized and roasted), to name a few.

Unlike Taiwan’s ubiquitous bubble tea, mixiang tea is still highly limited and largely off-the-radar. But what was once a hidden gem among serious tea lovers is now starting to gain international attention.

Bug-bitten oolong? The secret behind Taiwan’s rare honey-flavored tea — and where to enjoy it
Ethena

As the leaves rustle atop the hills in Nantou, Taiwan’s largest tea-producing area, the farm suddenly comes alive, millions of tiny green bugs hopping into the air.

While many farmers might frown at the sight of these pests munching on their crops, Lee Ming-cheng, a third-generation tea farmer and maker, can’t hide the broad smile on his sun-kissed face.

This “green insect fog,” as locals call it, is a sign they’ll have a good harvest of Gui Fei Oolong (also known as Honey Flavor Dong Ding Oolong or Concubine Oolong), a special tea that’s prized for offering a hint of honey flavor.

And it’s these endemic insects, called Jacobiasca formosana, or tea jassids, that are to thank for it.

When the jassids feed, the leaves go into defensive mode and produce a sweetened hormone that tastes and smells like honey, creating one of the world’s most intriguing teas: mixiang cha, or honey-fragrance tea.

The bug-bitten leaves are oxidized and roasted to create a variety of beverages. There’s mixiang black tea (made with fully oxidized leaves) and oolong teas like Oriental Beauty (partially oxidized and not roasted) and the previously mentioned Concubine Tea (partially oxidized and roasted), to name a few.

Unlike Taiwan’s ubiquitous bubble tea, mixiang tea is still highly limited and largely off-the-radar. But what was once a hidden gem among serious tea lovers is now starting to gain international attention.

Bug-bitten oolong? The secret behind Taiwan’s rare honey-flavored tea — and where to enjoy it
Ethena

As the leaves rustle atop the hills in Nantou, Taiwan’s largest tea-producing area, the farm suddenly comes alive, millions of tiny green bugs hopping into the air.

While many farmers might frown at the sight of these pests munching on their crops, Lee Ming-cheng, a third-generation tea farmer and maker, can’t hide the broad smile on his sun-kissed face.

This “green insect fog,” as locals call it, is a sign they’ll have a good harvest of Gui Fei Oolong (also known as Honey Flavor Dong Ding Oolong or Concubine Oolong), a special tea that’s prized for offering a hint of honey flavor.

And it’s these endemic insects, called Jacobiasca formosana, or tea jassids, that are to thank for it.

When the jassids feed, the leaves go into defensive mode and produce a sweetened hormone that tastes and smells like honey, creating one of the world’s most intriguing teas: mixiang cha, or honey-fragrance tea.

The bug-bitten leaves are oxidized and roasted to create a variety of beverages. There’s mixiang black tea (made with fully oxidized leaves) and oolong teas like Oriental Beauty (partially oxidized and not roasted) and the previously mentioned Concubine Tea (partially oxidized and roasted), to name a few.

Unlike Taiwan’s ubiquitous bubble tea, mixiang tea is still highly limited and largely off-the-radar. But what was once a hidden gem among serious tea lovers is now starting to gain international attention.

Bug-bitten oolong? The secret behind Taiwan’s rare honey-flavored tea — and where to enjoy it
Ethena

As the leaves rustle atop the hills in Nantou, Taiwan’s largest tea-producing area, the farm suddenly comes alive, millions of tiny green bugs hopping into the air.

While many farmers might frown at the sight of these pests munching on their crops, Lee Ming-cheng, a third-generation tea farmer and maker, can’t hide the broad smile on his sun-kissed face.

This “green insect fog,” as locals call it, is a sign they’ll have a good harvest of Gui Fei Oolong (also known as Honey Flavor Dong Ding Oolong or Concubine Oolong), a special tea that’s prized for offering a hint of honey flavor.

And it’s these endemic insects, called Jacobiasca formosana, or tea jassids, that are to thank for it.

When the jassids feed, the leaves go into defensive mode and produce a sweetened hormone that tastes and smells like honey, creating one of the world’s most intriguing teas: mixiang cha, or honey-fragrance tea.

The bug-bitten leaves are oxidized and roasted to create a variety of beverages. There’s mixiang black tea (made with fully oxidized leaves) and oolong teas like Oriental Beauty (partially oxidized and not roasted) and the previously mentioned Concubine Tea (partially oxidized and roasted), to name a few.

Unlike Taiwan’s ubiquitous bubble tea, mixiang tea is still highly limited and largely off-the-radar. But what was once a hidden gem among serious tea lovers is now starting to gain international attention.

Bug-bitten oolong? The secret behind Taiwan’s rare honey-flavored tea — and where to enjoy it
Ethena

As the leaves rustle atop the hills in Nantou, Taiwan’s largest tea-producing area, the farm suddenly comes alive, millions of tiny green bugs hopping into the air.

While many farmers might frown at the sight of these pests munching on their crops, Lee Ming-cheng, a third-generation tea farmer and maker, can’t hide the broad smile on his sun-kissed face.

This “green insect fog,” as locals call it, is a sign they’ll have a good harvest of Gui Fei Oolong (also known as Honey Flavor Dong Ding Oolong or Concubine Oolong), a special tea that’s prized for offering a hint of honey flavor.

And it’s these endemic insects, called Jacobiasca formosana, or tea jassids, that are to thank for it.

When the jassids feed, the leaves go into defensive mode and produce a sweetened hormone that tastes and smells like honey, creating one of the world’s most intriguing teas: mixiang cha, or honey-fragrance tea.

The bug-bitten leaves are oxidized and roasted to create a variety of beverages. There’s mixiang black tea (made with fully oxidized leaves) and oolong teas like Oriental Beauty (partially oxidized and not roasted) and the previously mentioned Concubine Tea (partially oxidized and roasted), to name a few.

Unlike Taiwan’s ubiquitous bubble tea, mixiang tea is still highly limited and largely off-the-radar. But what was once a hidden gem among serious tea lovers is now starting to gain international attention.

Bug-bitten oolong? The secret behind Taiwan’s rare honey-flavored tea — and where to enjoy it
Ethena

As the leaves rustle atop the hills in Nantou, Taiwan’s largest tea-producing area, the farm suddenly comes alive, millions of tiny green bugs hopping into the air.

While many farmers might frown at the sight of these pests munching on their crops, Lee Ming-cheng, a third-generation tea farmer and maker, can’t hide the broad smile on his sun-kissed face.

This “green insect fog,” as locals call it, is a sign they’ll have a good harvest of Gui Fei Oolong (also known as Honey Flavor Dong Ding Oolong or Concubine Oolong), a special tea that’s prized for offering a hint of honey flavor.

And it’s these endemic insects, called Jacobiasca formosana, or tea jassids, that are to thank for it.

When the jassids feed, the leaves go into defensive mode and produce a sweetened hormone that tastes and smells like honey, creating one of the world’s most intriguing teas: mixiang cha, or honey-fragrance tea.

The bug-bitten leaves are oxidized and roasted to create a variety of beverages. There’s mixiang black tea (made with fully oxidized leaves) and oolong teas like Oriental Beauty (partially oxidized and not roasted) and the previously mentioned Concubine Tea (partially oxidized and roasted), to name a few.

Unlike Taiwan’s ubiquitous bubble tea, mixiang tea is still highly limited and largely off-the-radar. But what was once a hidden gem among serious tea lovers is now starting to gain international attention.

He thought the guy he met on vacation was just a fling. He turned out to be the love of his life
Pancakeswap
Guillermo Barrantes relationship with Larry Mock was supposed to begin and end in Palm Springs.

It was a “casual, brief encounter.” A vacation dalliance that only lasted half a day.

“It was just so casual, so easily nothing could have happened from it,” Guillermo tells CNN Travel. “We could have walked away and just had our lives separate. But of course that didn’t happen, because it wasn’t meant to be that way. It was meant to be the way that it was. That it is.”

It all started in summer 2013. Guillermo - then in his early 40s - was on vacation in the California resort city of Palm Springs. He was in a phase of life where, he says, he was prioritizing himself, and wasn’t interested in long term romance.

“I thrived in being by myself, in traveling by myself, in having dinner by myself – I loved all of that so much,” says Guillermo, who lived in Boston, Massachusetts at the time.

“I wanted no commitment, I wanted no emotional entanglement of any kind. I wanted to have fun, get to know myself. And it was in that mode that I met Larry, when I wasn’t really looking.”

During the vacation in Palm Springs, Guillermo was staying at a friend’s apartment, and while the friend worked during the day, Guillermo passed his time at a “run-down, no-frills” resort a couple of blocks away.

“You could just pay for a day pass, they’d give you a towel, and you could be in the pool and use their bar,” he recalls.

One day, as he was walking the palm tree-lined streets to the resort, Guillermo swiped right on a guy on a dating app – Larry Mock, mid-40s, friendly smile. The two men exchanged a few messages back and forth. Larry said he was also on vacation in Palm Springs, staying in the resort Guillermo kept frequenting.

They arranged to meet there for a drink by the pool. Guillermo was looking forward to meeting Larry, expecting “some casual fun.”

Then, when Guillermo and Larry met, there was “chemistry” right away. Guillermo calls their connection “magnetic.”

“My impression of Larry: sexy, handsome and warm,” he recalls.

He thought the guy he met on vacation was just a fling. He turned out to be the love of his life
Pancakeswap
Guillermo Barrantes relationship with Larry Mock was supposed to begin and end in Palm Springs.

It was a “casual, brief encounter.” A vacation dalliance that only lasted half a day.

“It was just so casual, so easily nothing could have happened from it,” Guillermo tells CNN Travel. “We could have walked away and just had our lives separate. But of course that didn’t happen, because it wasn’t meant to be that way. It was meant to be the way that it was. That it is.”

It all started in summer 2013. Guillermo - then in his early 40s - was on vacation in the California resort city of Palm Springs. He was in a phase of life where, he says, he was prioritizing himself, and wasn’t interested in long term romance.

“I thrived in being by myself, in traveling by myself, in having dinner by myself – I loved all of that so much,” says Guillermo, who lived in Boston, Massachusetts at the time.

“I wanted no commitment, I wanted no emotional entanglement of any kind. I wanted to have fun, get to know myself. And it was in that mode that I met Larry, when I wasn’t really looking.”

During the vacation in Palm Springs, Guillermo was staying at a friend’s apartment, and while the friend worked during the day, Guillermo passed his time at a “run-down, no-frills” resort a couple of blocks away.

“You could just pay for a day pass, they’d give you a towel, and you could be in the pool and use their bar,” he recalls.

One day, as he was walking the palm tree-lined streets to the resort, Guillermo swiped right on a guy on a dating app – Larry Mock, mid-40s, friendly smile. The two men exchanged a few messages back and forth. Larry said he was also on vacation in Palm Springs, staying in the resort Guillermo kept frequenting.

They arranged to meet there for a drink by the pool. Guillermo was looking forward to meeting Larry, expecting “some casual fun.”

Then, when Guillermo and Larry met, there was “chemistry” right away. Guillermo calls their connection “magnetic.”

“My impression of Larry: sexy, handsome and warm,” he recalls.

He thought the guy he met on vacation was just a fling. He turned out to be the love of his life
Pancakeswap
Guillermo Barrantes relationship with Larry Mock was supposed to begin and end in Palm Springs.

It was a “casual, brief encounter.” A vacation dalliance that only lasted half a day.

“It was just so casual, so easily nothing could have happened from it,” Guillermo tells CNN Travel. “We could have walked away and just had our lives separate. But of course that didn’t happen, because it wasn’t meant to be that way. It was meant to be the way that it was. That it is.”

It all started in summer 2013. Guillermo - then in his early 40s - was on vacation in the California resort city of Palm Springs. He was in a phase of life where, he says, he was prioritizing himself, and wasn’t interested in long term romance.

“I thrived in being by myself, in traveling by myself, in having dinner by myself – I loved all of that so much,” says Guillermo, who lived in Boston, Massachusetts at the time.

“I wanted no commitment, I wanted no emotional entanglement of any kind. I wanted to have fun, get to know myself. And it was in that mode that I met Larry, when I wasn’t really looking.”

During the vacation in Palm Springs, Guillermo was staying at a friend’s apartment, and while the friend worked during the day, Guillermo passed his time at a “run-down, no-frills” resort a couple of blocks away.

“You could just pay for a day pass, they’d give you a towel, and you could be in the pool and use their bar,” he recalls.

One day, as he was walking the palm tree-lined streets to the resort, Guillermo swiped right on a guy on a dating app – Larry Mock, mid-40s, friendly smile. The two men exchanged a few messages back and forth. Larry said he was also on vacation in Palm Springs, staying in the resort Guillermo kept frequenting.

They arranged to meet there for a drink by the pool. Guillermo was looking forward to meeting Larry, expecting “some casual fun.”

Then, when Guillermo and Larry met, there was “chemistry” right away. Guillermo calls their connection “magnetic.”

“My impression of Larry: sexy, handsome and warm,” he recalls.

He thought the guy he met on vacation was just a fling. He turned out to be the love of his life
Pancakeswap
Guillermo Barrantes relationship with Larry Mock was supposed to begin and end in Palm Springs.

It was a “casual, brief encounter.” A vacation dalliance that only lasted half a day.

“It was just so casual, so easily nothing could have happened from it,” Guillermo tells CNN Travel. “We could have walked away and just had our lives separate. But of course that didn’t happen, because it wasn’t meant to be that way. It was meant to be the way that it was. That it is.”

It all started in summer 2013. Guillermo - then in his early 40s - was on vacation in the California resort city of Palm Springs. He was in a phase of life where, he says, he was prioritizing himself, and wasn’t interested in long term romance.

“I thrived in being by myself, in traveling by myself, in having dinner by myself – I loved all of that so much,” says Guillermo, who lived in Boston, Massachusetts at the time.

“I wanted no commitment, I wanted no emotional entanglement of any kind. I wanted to have fun, get to know myself. And it was in that mode that I met Larry, when I wasn’t really looking.”

During the vacation in Palm Springs, Guillermo was staying at a friend’s apartment, and while the friend worked during the day, Guillermo passed his time at a “run-down, no-frills” resort a couple of blocks away.

“You could just pay for a day pass, they’d give you a towel, and you could be in the pool and use their bar,” he recalls.

One day, as he was walking the palm tree-lined streets to the resort, Guillermo swiped right on a guy on a dating app – Larry Mock, mid-40s, friendly smile. The two men exchanged a few messages back and forth. Larry said he was also on vacation in Palm Springs, staying in the resort Guillermo kept frequenting.

They arranged to meet there for a drink by the pool. Guillermo was looking forward to meeting Larry, expecting “some casual fun.”

Then, when Guillermo and Larry met, there was “chemistry” right away. Guillermo calls their connection “magnetic.”

“My impression of Larry: sexy, handsome and warm,” he recalls.