Tanyang Gongfu Part 2: Tradition and New Technique
New Technique Tanyang Gongfu (AKA Minke Hong or Floral-Fruity Aroma Tanyang Gongfu) is an innovation of traditional Tanyang Gongfu red tea processing. It is predominantly made from oolong cultivars such as Jin Mudan instead of the local heirloom varietal, and incorporates the shaking step (yaoqing) from oolong processing. This innovation produces distinct fruity and floral aromas such as notes of peach, lychee, and orchid. The co-existence of these two main categories: Traditional, and New Technique, gives Tanyang Gongfu red tea a degree of complexity. It is difficult to draw general conclusions about Tanyang Gongfu from a sample of just one of the categories. Within the New Technique category alone, there can be a multitude of different flavours and aromas depending on which oolong cultivar is used as the base material. In this blog I will explain the background to the development of New Technique Tanyang Gongfu and three main differences from Traditional Tanyang Gongfu.
A New Technique Tanyang Gongfu
Background
First we must go back to the 1930s. In 1935, Zhang Tianfu established the first modern tea research institute in Fu’an. Zhang Tianfu is known as the ‘Father of Tea Science’ in China. In Fu’an, Zhang and his colleagues experimented with cultivar planting. To this date, Fu’an has a very large ‘bank’ of cultivars for research purposes. Although the war would later force Tianfu’s institute to relocate away from Fu’an, where it would become the renowned Fujian Tea Research Institute, their work in experimenting with cultivar propagation laid the foundation for Tanyang’s cultivar restructuring in the early 2000s.
Since 2000, Fu’an has introduced several oolong tea varieties for red tea making, including: Jin Mudan, Jin Guanyin, Huang Meigui, and Zi Meigui. These aromatic oolong cultivars are now commonly found in Fu’an, especially Jin Mudan. The local heirloom cultivar, Tanyang Cai Cha, is still used for Traditional Tanyang Gongfu.
After these oolong cultivars were planted, local tea makers discovered that when they were processed using Traditional Tanyang Gongfu black tea methods, the tea’s appearance was attractive but the taste lacked distinctive character.
Lin Hong, the national-level intangible heritage inheritor of Tanyang Gongfu, is one of the figures who contributed to solving this problem. The solution adds the shaking technique of oolong tea (yaoqing) into the withering step. This combination of oolong cultivars and a shaking step results in the robust aroma of New Technique Tanyang Gongfu.
In 2018, the Fu’an Tea Industry Association issued the group standard: Floral-Fruity Aroma Tanyang Gongfu Minke Hong. This standard helped stabilize the new processing techniques, leading to widespread adoption across Fu’an. The technique has also been used in other red tea areas to produce new highly aromatic red teas.
The use of oolong varieties and the shaking step are the two main processing differences in New Technique Tanyang Gongfu, resulting in a very different appearance and taste compared to Traditional Tanyang Gongfu.
1. Differences in Cultivar
The choice of cultivar plays a crucial role in producing New Technique Tanyang Gongfu. Despite a large scale change in Tanyang from the local red tea cultivar to green tea cultivars in the 20th century, green-tea cultivars often lack sufficient aroma for the new technique Tanyang Gongfu teas. When processed with a shaking step, the resulting floral-fruity fragrance tends to be weak.
The local heirloom cultivar, Tanyang Cai Cha, can produce some floral-fruity notes, but these aromas are usually not as prominent. This cultivar is more suited to traditional processing where the sweet and mellow liqour is given priority. Instead, New Technique Tanyang Gongfu is generally made from oolong cultivars.
Of the oolong cultivars planted in Fu'an, Jin Mudan (Golden Peony) has been the most successful for making New Technique Tanyang Gongfu. This is because it can handle the shaking (yaoqing) step, and provides a bright fruity and floral aroma. Jin Mudan was developed in the 1970s by the aforementioned Fujian Tea Research Institute. It is a successful hybrid of the Tie Guan Yin (Iron Goddess of Mercy) and Huangyan cultivars, possessing the orchid aroma from the former and the peach aroma from the latter. The Jin Mudan cultivar's high success rate has made it the most commonly used cultivar for New Technique Tanyang Gongfu on the market.
2. Differences in Processing Technique
Apart from picking mature oolong leaves instead of finer cai cha leaves, the most significant processing difference in New Technique Tanyang Gongfu is the incorporation of the oolong shaking step into the workflow.
Like in oolong processing, the collision of leaves in the shaking step accelerates enzymatic oxidation and promotes moisture movement from the stems, releasing aromatic compounds. Light manual or mechanical force is applied to gently bruise the leaf edges. In Tanyang Gongfu’s case, the intensity of the shaking is usually lower than in oolong processing, in order to not break too many leaves. If the leaves are coarser or from older bushes, heavier shaking may be required. Excessive shaking must be avoided as it can cause an over-fermented dull taste and a high rate of broken leaves. Shaking can be stopped once the grassy odour disappears and is replaced by a floral fragrance.
Contrary to popular statements, red tea is not necessarily 100 percent fermented. New Technique Tanyang Gongfu is a good example. The proper fermentation level is about 85 to 90 percent (though these percentage herustics are inherently imprecise). New Technique Tanyang Gongfu should have a bright orange liquor, the result of this slightly lighter fermentation. Traditional Tanyang Gongfu red tea is close to fully fermented, producing a redder copper tone in the liquor.
3. Differences in Appearance and Taste
The difference between Traditional Tanyang Gongfu and New Technique Tanyang Gongfu is quite obvious when looking at the dry leaf. The traditional one uses the small-leafed local cai cha variety, presenting as thin tightly rolled leaves with golden pekoe. The New Technique Tanyang Goingfu uses maturer oolong leaves, which present bigger and more like an oolong tea.
The left is a Traditional Tanyang Gongfu. The right is a New Technique Tanyang Gongfu. Same below:
The lighter bright orange colour on the right is due to slightly lower fermentation. Traditional Tanyang Gongfu is nearly fully fermented, resulting in a slightly darker/redder colour. I say ‘nearly’ fully fermented because Tanyang producers have a habit of erring on the side of slightly less fermentation. The reason is that the tea keeps better, and can transform slightly with age. Maybe it will really start to taste its best after a few months or even a year after production. A 100 percent fermented Tanyang Gongfu will taste good when freshly made but will dull over time.
The differences in taste are also quite obvious. New Technique Tanyang Gongfu focuses on bright fruity and floral aromas, often like peach and orchid. Traditional Tanyang Gongfu is also called Sweet and Mellow Tanyang Gongfu in recent 2026 guidelines, expressing the ideal taste of this tea. The priority of traditional Tanyang Gongfu processing is a tea liquor that is very mellow, sweet, and durable over many infusions. New Technique Tanyang Gongfu is less resistant to brewing, often performing best in four or five steeps.