Salty milk tea rise in 2026 — sources and image notes\n\n## Topic selection notes\nCompared candidate directions before writing:\n- salty milk tea / savory milk tea rise\n- skinny milk tea / low-cal tea-drink body-management rhetoric\n- anthocyanin / purple-health drink hype\n- fruit-veg tea and superfood tea continuations\n- tea chains expanding into coffee / snacks / breakfast side-business\n\nChosen direction: salty milk tea.\nReason: strongest distinction from the existing drinks article on breakfastization, strong March 2026 Chinese-internet discussion signals, strong brand/product examples, and better fit for a long-form flavor-culture piece rather than a thin industry update.\n\n## Article sources\n- Hongcan Industry Research Institute, 《茶饮品类发展报告2026》: https://www.canyin88.com/research/detail/2026/0205/326.html\n- Hongcan coverage on 2026 tea-drink category shifts and savory milk tea share: https://m.canyin88.com/zixun/2026/02/24/110892.html\n- Tencent News repost / discussion summary on savory milk tea and regional ingredient directions: https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20260224A05XMH00\n- Xinhua food coverage on tea-drink innovation directions: https://www.news.cn/food/20260209/a309a2d7234143a987f1ca3ffb9b2090/c.html\n- CHAGEE fresh milk tea series for current product-language context: https://www.chagee.com/zh-cn/product/fresh-milk-tea-series?autoscroll=lists\n\n## Images used\nAll images below were already present in the repo and tracked by git before this run. File validity checked with file.\n- assets/img/photos/light-milk-tea-cups-v1.jpg\n- assets/img/photos/light-milk-tea-store-v1.jpg\n- assets/img/photos/light-milk-tea-jasmine-v1.jpg\n- assets/img/photos/wikimedia-bubble-tea-counter-v3.jpg\n- assets/img/photos/bubble-tea-glass-v3.jpg\n\n## Notes\n- Existing repo image pool was used because it already contained publishable, tracked tea-drink photos with adequate fit for a savory milk tea trend feature.\n- Avoided unrelated coffee/cocktail/dessert filler imagery.\n- Article includes visible source references at the end in both language versions.\n