Chong cha - the prized tea made from insect droppings
It sounds like a joke or a bet on the world’s strangest drink, but it is a quite real, prized tea: chong shi cha, that is tea made from insect droppings. In southwestern China people have for centuries drunk an infusion prepared from the droppings of insects that fed on tea leaves and herbs. Despite the name that is off-putting to us, it is a traditional product of ethnic minorities, described back in the Ming era, studied scientifically and prized for its flavour and supposed health properties. It gives a sweetish, mineral, earthy infusion, far from what one might fear. Here is what chong cha is, how exactly it is made, how it tastes, where it comes from and why the line between „disgusting” and „delicacy” can be purely a matter of culture.
What chong cha is
Chong shi cha, chong cha for short, is an unusual tea made from the droppings of insects that feed on certain plants. It is an infusion from outside the world of classic tea from the Camellia bush, though the insects often feed on its leaves. It comes from regions inhabited by ethnic minorities in southwestern China, such as the Miao, Dong, Buyi, Yao, Zhuang, Yi, Tujia and Gelao. For these communities it is a traditional, long-known product, not a curiosity. The name literally points to the insect origin, which for a Western audience can be shocking. Understanding that it is an authentic, local drink with a long tradition, not a modern oddity, is the starting point. Chong cha is an example of how different cultures can make a delicacy of something that elsewhere would arouse disgust. It is a tea with a truly unusual lineage.
How it is made
The way chong cha is made is fascinating and thought-out. Medicinal herbs and old tea leaves are placed in a bamboo basket and left to ferment. The scent of the fermenting leaves and herbs attracts insects, which lay their eggs in the basket. The larvae, for example moths of the Pyralidae family, eat the leaves of plants such as Actinidia or Camellia sinensis. Their droppings are then collected, dried, fermented and processed into a fine powder or granules, which are brewed like ordinary tea. The result is an earthy, mineral-rich infusion with minimal sediment. It is not a random coincidence but a deliberate, controlled process. Understanding that people deliberately invite insects to process the leaves shows how ingenious traditional cuisine can be. Chong cha is the result of cooperation between humans, plants and insects in one basket.
How it tastes
Contrary to what one might fear, chong cha tastes pleasant. It gives a smooth, earthy and almost sweetish infusion, far from anything off-putting. The taste is described as mineral and mild, with a depth typical of fermented products. It is not a drink that tastes of droppings, but a tea of earthy, mature character, somewhat reminiscent of dark, fermented teas. Many drinkers who break the barrier of the name are surprised by how tasty and delicate this infusion is. Understanding that the taste has nothing to do with the disgust evoked by the name is crucial. Chong cha is a good example of how much our attitude to a dish depends on knowing its origin, not on the taste itself. Served blind, few would guess what it is. It is a tea that defends itself with flavour.
A thousand years of tradition
Chong cha is not a modern invention but a product with a long, documented history. Insect tea has been described for over a thousand years, with the earliest mentions appearing in texts from the Song dynasty. It was described in detail by Li Shizhen in his famous pharmaceutical work from the Ming era in the sixteenth century. This shows that chong cha is deeply rooted in Chinese tradition and folk medicine, not an exotic novelty. For centuries it was treated as a valuable product, worthy of description in serious works. Understanding this long history gives chong cha a gravity and context lacking when one looks only at the off-putting name. It is a drink with a lineage reaching back hundreds of years, revered and described by scholars. Its tradition is older than many teas recognised today. Chong cha is a living heritage.
Why it exists at all
The natural question is why anyone started making tea from insect droppings. The answer lies in the ingenuity and thrift of traditional communities. Old tea leaves and herbs that would otherwise go to waste are, thanks to the insects, turned into a valuable, durable product. The insects in effect „process” the raw material, concentrating and transforming its components into an easily stored form. It is an example of a waste-free economy long before the term was coined. In addition, chong cha was credited with health properties, which made it valuable. Understanding this logic shows that the drink did not arise from an oddity but from a practical need to use everything available. It is a clever and ecological solution, though counterintuitive to us. Chong cha is proof that traditional cuisine can find value where others see waste. Nothing goes to waste.
Health and folk tradition
In the culture it comes from, chong cha is prized not only for its taste but for its supposed health properties. Traditionally it is considered very good for the stomach and a healthy tonic for those who drink it. These beliefs, rooted in folk medicine, further raised its status and value. It is worth being cautious, though: folk attribution of health properties is not the same as scientific confirmation, and chong cha is only now being studied in modern times. Understanding that it is a drink prized in tradition for health helps explain why, despite its unusual origin, it was and is desired. At the same time it is worth treating health claims with distance, as always with traditional products. Chong cha is a drink whose value in its culture of origin goes beyond taste, including a health and almost medical dimension. It is a tea-tonic, not only a pleasure.
The line between fault and delicacy
Chong cha is a great example of how fluid and cultural the line between „disgusting” and „delicacy” can be. What is off-putting to one culture is in another prized and desired. The insect origin of the drink arouses disgust in us, but for the communities of southwestern China it is a valuable, traditional product. A similar mechanism operates in many of the world’s cuisines, where fermentation, mould or unusual ingredients create prized delicacies. It is a reminder that our reactions to food are largely learned and cultural, not objective. Understanding this relativity lets you view chong cha without prejudice, as a fascinating product of a particular culture. A similar phenomenon is seen in some dark, fermented teas, where the activity of microorganisms is part of the desired profile. The line of taste is often a matter of convention. Chong cha lies exactly on that line.
Chong cha and fermented teas
Although chong cha is a product from outside classic tea, it has an interesting kinship with fermented teas. Its earthy, mature character and the role of fermentation bring to mind dark post-fermented teas, in which microorganisms shape the flavour. In both cases it is not the freshness of the leaf but the microbial transformation that creates the final infusion. Chong cha can thus be seen as an extreme, insect relative of the broad family of teas in which fermentation is the heart of the product. Understanding this kinship helps place chong cha in a broader context, rather than treating it as a completely isolated oddity. You can read more about teas shaped by microbes in the post on microbial fermentation in heicha and on sheng and shou pu-erh. Chong cha is an extreme example of the same idea: flavour is born of transformation, not of the leaf alone.
What it means for the drinker
For the drinker, chong cha is above all a fascinating lesson in the diversity and relativity of the drinks world. It shows how far human ingenuity reaches and how much our reactions to food are shaped by culture, not by taste itself. You are unlikely to find this tea in your local tea shop, but it is worth knowing it exists as a reminder that the tea world is far broader and stranger than it seems. It is an encouragement to openness and curiosity toward non-obvious traditions. Next time you think you know all kinds of tea, recall an infusion of insect droppings prized for a thousand years. If you like to explore unusual teas and record your impressions, record your tastings in the app. Chong cha is proof that the tea world still holds surprising, paradigm-breaking discoveries. It is a tea that teaches humility.
The key points
Chong shi cha, that is tea from insect droppings, is an unusual infusion from southwestern China, made from the droppings of insects fed on tea leaves and herbs. It is made when herbs and old leaves ferment in a bamboo basket, attracting insects whose larvae eat the leaves, and their droppings are dried, fermented and brewed. Despite the off-putting name it gives a smooth, earthy, almost sweetish infusion and is a traditional product of ethnic minorities, described over a thousand years ago, including by Li Shizhen in the Ming era. It was prized for its taste and supposed health properties, especially for the stomach. It is a great example of how cultural and fluid the line between disgusting and delicacy is, and of kinship with fermented teas. Chong cha reminds us that the tea world is far broader and stranger than it seems.