Camellia sinensis var. assamica ★★★★☆

Hong Yun

Also known as: Hongyun · TTES No. 21 · Ruby 21

Mint and cinnamon over a distinctive citrus-rose top note. A small-batch Taiwanese black tea.

Species
var. assamica
Lineage
Modern hybrid
Country
Taiwan
Year
2008
Leaf size
Large
Cup quality
4/5

Hong Yun (紅韻, "Red Rhyme") is Taiwan Tea Experiment Station's cultivar #21, released in 2008 as a sibling project to Ruby 18. Where Ruby 18 crossed Burmese Assam with Taiwan wild tea, Hong Yun crosses two Indian Assam lines — Kyang and Jaipuri — so it is fully assamica in parentage.

The cup keeps the cool-mint and cinnamon character that defines Sun Moon Lake black teas but adds a brighter citrus-and-rose top note. Hong Yun is rarer than Ruby 18, grown in small quantities by Nantou producers, and is usually offered as a single-cultivar curiosity for drinkers who already know Ruby 18.

Modern hybrid
Deliberate cross developed by tea research institutes. Developed 2008. Parent material: Kyang (India), Jaipuri (India).
Lineage data & sources
Documented cross — its two parent cultivars are recorded in tea-breeding registries; trace them in the lineage explorer.
Sources: teadb.org

Teas produced

Black

Flavor signature

MintCinnamonCitrusRoseHoney

Growing regions

Origins where Hong Yun grows

Brands likely carrying Hong Yun

Direct-sourcing operations with focus areas that align with this cultivar's typical growing regions.

Related cultivars

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