Varietal/Cultivars

Ruby #18 is one of my favorite cultivars. I found out about it when I was in Taiwan 8 years ago. It was given to me at a tea shop in Taipei and I was pleased by how complex the tea was. I had never tasted a black tea with wintergreen notes in the finish. Ruby #18 is a cultivar created by the Taiwanese Tea Research and Extension Station in 1999. The intent was to create a cultivar that would be used to produce black tea. The TTRES crossed a strand of Camellia Sinensis that was growing wild in the hills around Sun...

Today's post will be about the Qing Xin varietal. Qing Xin or 青心 translates to "Green Heart". It is one of the most popular oolong varietals used by farmers in Taiwan. It grows well at both high and low elevations. It is also used to create multiple different types of oolong teas from all areas of taiwan. It normally yields a great floral, vegetal, sweet, and tropical flavor. Most teas created with this cultivar are usually lighter in oxidation. However, the Qing Xin cultivar does well when oxidized at higher levels. Qing Xin varietal grown on San Ling Xi, Nantou County,...

In the last post, I briefly wrote about Oolong teas. In the upcoming posts, we're going to talk about specific types of Oolong teas and what goes into their creation. Today's post is going to focus on the Jin Xuan cultivar. There are some common misconceptions about this type of Camellia Sinensis. Those misconceptions generally stem from inaccurate information told by tea purveyors. Hopefully, at the end of this post, you'll have a better understanding of what a milk oolong really is and how to buy one. What is Jinxuan? Jin Xuan is a cultivar. It was created in Taiwan,...