We recently received two pieces of very happy tea news from Taiwan, and we couldn’t wait to share them with you!
The first comes from Whispers of Tea (花間茶語) in Dongshan, Yilan, Taiwan. When we visited Taiwan this spring, our friend Lin Pinchun (林品君) — a Taiwanese food researcher and tea and food coordinator — introduced us to Cola and her husband, Li Wei (李維), the third generation of his family to carry on Whispers of Tea.
And now, some wonderful news: Li Wei has won the top award at the 2026 Yilan County Suxin Black Tea Grading Competition (115年度宜蘭縣素馨紅茶分級評鑑). This year, 99 teas from 23 tea farmers were entered, and his tea received the highest honour.
The Suxin Black Tea program has been developing in Yilan for more than 14 years, and when we visited Cola this spring, she shared something with us that really stayed in our minds. Taiwan’s climate has changed dramatically over the past decade. There are longer periods without rain, and extremely hot weather can continue for much longer than it used to. These changes have made it increasingly difficult to grow some of the teas that farmers traditionally produced in the area.
In response, local farmers have been putting more effort into black tea production, learning from each other and competing through regional tea competitions to continually improve the quality of their teas. Hearing that Li Wei received the top award made us especially happy because we remembered Cola telling us how much work the whole region has put into building its black tea culture.
Together with Pinchun, Whispers of Tea also produces some beautiful teas using locally grown pomelo blossoms, osmanthus and roses. We carry some of these teas at MIKA, and what attracted us wasn't simply their beautiful aromas. We loved the idea of combining Taiwanese tea with flowers and plants grown in the same place, creating teas that really reflect where they come from.
Tea farming also looked like incredibly hard work. Cola always seemed to be running from one thing to another when we were there! Changes in weather and growing conditions are things farmers simply cannot control, and I think the challenges are probably much greater than most of us can imagine. But Cola smiled and told us that she loves what she does. Somehow, hearing that made us feel encouraged too.
Since Li Wei, Cola’s husband and the third-generation tea maker behind Whispers of Tea, received the top award, they have apparently been flooded with orders, and some of their teas have become very difficult to get. But Cola kindly saved a few for us. We’ll be receiving a new shipment from Whispers of Tea next month, so stay tuned!
We also received some exciting news from Yan Feng Tea.
This year, he once again took part in judging the 2026 Hsinchu County Summer Oriental Beauty Tea Competition, and he kindly sent us photos from the judging. Hsinchu is one of Taiwan’s best-known regions for Oriental Beauty, and an incredible 968 teas were entered in this summer’s competition.
When we visited Yan Feng Tea’s factory in Taiwan this spring, he brewed so many different Oriental Beauty teas for us.
“Mika, this one is very rare!”
Then another tea would appear. And another.
Watching his smile as he brewed them, you could see how genuinely he loves tea and how proud he is of the teas they produce.
MIKA is certainly not a large tea retailer, but every once in a while we receive a message from him saying something like, “We got a very special tea. There isn’t much of it, but should I save some for you?” Or, “This one is very rare, but I can send you a little.”
We’re always incredibly grateful when those messages arrive.
This year, he also shared another piece of happy news with us: he was promoted to Assistant Team Leader for the competition. Congratulations!
Someone who tastes and evaluates so many exceptional Oriental Beauty teas every year has also introduced us to some truly wonderful teas. We taste everything ourselves before choosing what to bring to MIKA, and the teas he has recommended to us have consistently been beautiful. That’s why we feel so confident and happy sharing them with you.
There are many more stories from our Taiwan tea trip that we would love to share, and we’re planning to put them together properly soon.
But good news should be shared while it’s still fresh, so we couldn’t wait that long.
More Taiwan tea stories coming soon!
