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Research note 042 — 2026-09-04

Kuding Tea and Liangcha — Drinks That Talk About 「苦い」 in Grades

Kudingcha and liangcha are both strongly bitter drinks consumed in southern China, but the axis along which their bitterness is talked about differs. Kudingcha is talked about through a botanical division — several plants from different families gathered under the same name. Liangcha is talked about through the strength of bitterness itself, described in grades. This note reads, side by side and each with its own strengths and limits, sources of different natures: reviews and chemical analyses dealing with kudingcha, and an ethnobotanical survey and a Guangzhou cultural article dealing with liangcha. What both drinks share is that neither can be talked about uniformly as a single crop.

What this page establishes

• Kudingcha is not a single plant species — one review records it as grouped into two botanically distinct plant groups: a large-leaved group centered on the genus Ilex, and a small-leaved group of the genus Ligustrum.
• Chemical analysis has measured that the main phenolic constituents of the large-leaved and small-leaved groups are entirely different.
• The narrative that divides liangcha's bitterness into grades is a view presented by a Guangzhou cultural article, and it has not yet been measured with a standardized scale.
• Whether kudingcha's botanical division and liangcha's bitterness grades can be compared on the same yardstick has not yet been confirmed.

Two families under one name: kudingcha

Kudingcha is positioned, at the opening of a review, as a tea long consumed in China.

But 「苦丁茶」 (in translation: "kudingcha") is not the name of a single plant species. The review introduces kudingcha sold in the Chinese market as divided into two botanically distinct plant groups: a large-leaved group including the genus Ilex, and a small-leaved group of the genus Ligustrum. A separate chemical-analysis paper also treats multiple lineages by their large-leaved or small-leaved origin, and this division — sharing the same name 「苦丁茶」 while belonging to different families — is common across sources of different natures.

As source plants of the large-leaved group, the review lists two species: Ilex latifolia and Ilex kudingcha.

As a source plant of the small-leaved group, Ligustrum robustum, of the genus Ligustrum in the olive family (Oleaceae), is included as a subject of the chemical-analysis paper.

Large-leaved and small-leaved: different phenolics, too

As the main metabolites of large-leaved kudingcha, the review lists triterpenoids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and essential oils.

A chemical analysis of kudingcha from across China reports that the phenolic composition of the large-leaved group (Ilex) and the small-leaved group (Ligustrum) is entirely different. It shows a contrast in which the Ilex group has caffeoylquinic acids as its main phenolics, while the Ligustrum group mainly has phenylethanoid glycosides and monoterpene glycosides.

From large-leaved kudingcha, tea catechins — epicatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, and epicatechin gallate, which are also found in green tea — have also been isolated and identified.

Liangcha — Lingnan's drinking culture, and a vocabulary of bitterness grades

Liangcha is a general term for beverages extracted in water from plant material not limited to Camellia sinensis, and an interview survey across multiple sociolinguistic groups recorded its consumption as part of Lingnan's regional culture and way of life.

The craft of preparing liangcha is also listed on the national-level register of intangible cultural heritage.

The method of making liangcha shown by an ethnobotanical survey is water extraction of one or more plant parts.

The same survey also records that sweeteners have come to be added to market-oriented products to soften the bitter flavor. This trend — a bitter drink that has continued as part of living culture having its taste adjusted once it reaches commercial distribution — is also a contrast not found, on the kudingcha side, in NIGAMI LAB's sources.

A cultural article posted on the Guangzhou municipal government's website introduces, as the view of people locally called 「老広」 (in translation: "old-time Guangzhou locals"), a division of liangcha's bitterness into rough grades, with higher grades being heavier in flavor and darker in color.

What is not known

• The two-group classification of kudingcha into large-leaved and small-leaved is shared across multiple sources, but the specimens in the chemical-analysis paper include the closely related Ilex cornuta rather than Ilex latifolia, so it is not a survey covering every source plant of kudingcha in circulation.
• Both the report that the phenolic composition differs between the large-leaved and small-leaved groups, and the report that large-leaved kudingcha contains catechins, remain at the level of chemical analysis; no source was found that confirmed, through sensory experiments, how this compositional difference is perceived as a difference in bitterness intensity or quality.
• The description comparing large-leaved kudingcha's catechin content with green tea and yerba mate is only an ordering, without accompanying numbers.
• The narrative that divides liangcha's bitterness into grades is the view of 「老広」 (in translation: "old-time Guangzhou locals") introduced by a Guangzhou cultural article; the number of informants and the classification procedure are not recorded, and it is not a standardized sensory scale.
• These two 「等級」 (in translation: "grades") — kudingcha's botanical division and liangcha's bitterness grades — are based on different sources and different survey methods, and NIGAMI LAB's sources give no grounds for comparing them on the same yardstick.

Frequently asked

What plants is kudingcha made from?

As source plants of the tea leaf called kudingcha, two species of the genus Ilex — Ilex latifolia and Ilex kudingcha — and Ligustrum robustum of the genus Ligustrum are listed, each in separate reviews and analysis papers. The first two species are grouped together as the large-leaved group, and the latter as the small-leaved group; chemical analysis has confirmed that the main phenolic constituents of these two groups are entirely different. From the large-leaved group, tea catechins such as epicatechin, which is also found in green tea, have also been isolated and identified. However, the specimens subject to chemical analysis include the closely related Ilex cornuta rather than Ilex latifolia, so it is not a survey covering the whole of kudingcha in market circulation.

What kind of drink is liangcha?

The name liangcha does not point to one specific plant species; it is used as a name for beverages in general that are extracted in water from the leaves, fruit, flowers, bark, and seeds of various plants, not limited to the tea plant (Camellia sinensis). The craft of preparing it is also listed on the national-level register of intangible cultural heritage, and an interview survey across multiple sociolinguistic groups records its consumption as part of Lingnan's regional culture and way of life. It is also recorded that sweeteners have come to be added to market-oriented products to soften the bitter flavor. A Guangzhou cultural article introduces, as the view of people locally called 「老広」 (in translation: "old-time Guangzhou locals"), a division of liangcha's bitterness into rough grades, with higher grades being heavier in flavor and darker in color, but the number of informants and the classification procedure are not recorded, and it is not a standardized scale.

Related:kudingcha / Ilex kudingcha / Lingnan / Guangzhou / liangcha
Related research notes: Where "Bitter" Becomes a Compliment / Huigan — Tea's Time of Sweetness After Bitterness
Source ledger: Source list