Thai Beauty (US Stock)

50g: 7 packs 10 packs in stock

Thai Oriental Beauty | Bug-Bitten Oolong Tea from Mae Salong

You may already be familiar with Taiwan's famous Oriental Beauty, a highly oxidized oolong known for its distinctive honey sweetness and floral, fruity fragrance. Thai Beauty is inspired by this style, but has a personality of its own. Made in the mountains of Doi Mae Salong by Tea Master Nakhorn, it offers a softer, more refreshing expression of bug-bitten oolong than its Taiwanese counterpart, which is often powerfully aromatic and intense. That's exactly what I love about it.

As an Oriental Beauty, this tea begins with the gentle bite of a tiny tea leafhopper. The insect's bite triggers a natural response in the tea plant, which develops the distinctive honey-like aroma known as mixiang (蜜香). Made from the Ruanzhi cultivar, Thai Beauty is crafted as an open-leaf, highly oxidized oolong with a beautifully fragrant character.

Expect layers of orange blossom and wild flowers, followed by sweet honey, muscat grapes and fresh melon. It has that unmistakable Oriental Beauty fragrance, but with its own slightly tropical fruit character. The liquor is sweet and syrupy, yet refreshing, with an almost sparkling, wine-like quality. If you enjoy floral teas with a fruity, honeyed finish, this is one to try!

Tea Specs

NOTES Orange Blossom, Wild Flowers, Honey, Muscat Grape, Fresh Melon

ORIGIN Mae Salong, Chiang Rai, Thailand | Wang Put Tan Estate

PICKED March 2026

LEAF Ruanzhi Cultivar (No. 17)

CRAFT Bug-bitten, highly oxidized, open-leaf oolong

CAFFEINE Yes

Brew Instructions

We recommend brewing this tea in a Gaiwan, using a slightly lower temperature to preserve its delicate floral aromatics. It is also particularly lovely cold-brewed, which brings out its honey and muscat grape notes.

Gongfu Brew (Gaiwan): 6g | 150ml | 88°C | 20 sec | +10 sec for additional brews | Can steep ~7 times

Cold Brew (Pitcher): 5g | 300ml | Room temperature | 8 hours in fridge | Strain & Serve. For a little extra occasion, try serving in champagne flutes to enjoy its lovely fragrance.

Farm Story

Thai Beauty is made by Tea Master Nakhorn of Wang Put Tan Estate in Doi Mae Salong, Northern Thailand. His family has been making Taiwanese-style teas in the region for three generations, drawing on the tea-making traditions brought to the mountains while developing their own styles of local tea.

Nakhorn has a particular interest in bug-bitten oolongs and the wonderful honey aromas that develop through the interaction between tea plants and leafhoppers. Rather than simply reproducing Taiwanese teas, he experiments with different cultivars and processing techniques to bring out the unique character of each harvest, and showcase Thai terroir.

For Thai Beauty, I illustrated the Dok Champee (white champaca), a wonderfully fragrant flower that's often strung at the end of traditional Thai flower garlands (phuang malai). It has a lovely floral aroma with a hint of fruitiness, which felt like a natural match for this tea. Champaca is also one of those flowers that feels distinctly Thai to me, yet is perhaps less well-known than the more familiar Thai orchid, jasmine or lotus. I wanted to give this lovely flower a little spotlight!