Tea Cultivar · Camellia sinensis var. sinensis
Huangguanyin
- Origin
- China - Fujian, Fuan
- Registered
- 2002
- Primary use
- oolong, Wuyi yancha, Anxi-style oolong
Overview
Huangguanyin is a Chinese oolong cultivar bred at the Fujian Tea Research Institute by crossing Tieguanyin (mother) with Huangdan (father, also called Huangjingui). Registered as a national-class superior variety in 2002, it was developed to combine Tieguanyin's lingering aftertaste and orchid aroma with Huangdan's intense early-spring fragrance and earliness. It has been widely adopted in both its Anxi homeland and - notably - in the Wuyi rock-tea region, where it has become one of the most popular newer yancha cultivars under the name 'Huangguanyin yancha.'
Characteristics
Bud break is early - among the earliest of any Fujian oolong cultivar - giving growers an important market window. Leaves are medium-sized, oval, glossy, and slightly yellow-green (the source of the 'yellow' in the name). The bushes are vigorous and recover well from heavy pruning, and the cultivar shows good tolerance to cold and to common Fujian leaf diseases.
Flavor profile
Huangguanyin is famous for an extraordinarily intense, almost piercing aroma - osmanthus, gardenia, ripe tropical fruit, and a distinctive 'milk-honey' note - coupled with a smooth, sweet, low-astringency body. Processed in the rolled Anxi style it gives a brilliant high-floral oolong; processed in the Wuyi roast style it produces a remarkably aromatic yancha with the cultivar's perfume riding on top of the classic rock-tea minerality and stone-fruit depth.
Where it grows
China - Fujian, Anxi · China - Fujian, Wuyishan · China - Guangdong