Camellia sinensis var. sinensis ★★★★☆

Huangguanyin

Also known as: Huang Guan Yin · Golden Goddess · Yellow Goddess

Explosive osmanthus-floral aroma over a rock-tea body. A high-aroma Tieguanyin x Huangdan cross.

Species

var. sinensis

Lineage

Modern hybrid

Country

China (Fujian)

Year

2003

Leaf size

Medium

Cup quality

4/5

Huangguanyin (黃觀音, "Yellow/Golden Goddess") is a deliberate cross made by the Fujian Tea Research Institute, using Tieguanyin as the seed parent and Huangdan (Huang Jin Gui) as the pollen parent. Single-plant selection ran from 1977 to 1997 and the cultivar was formally released in 2003. The breeding goal was to fuse Tieguanyin's full, durable body with Huang Jin Gui's early-sprouting, intensely floral aroma.

The result is one of the most aromatic of the modern Fujian oolongs — a powerful osmanthus-and-honey nose that carries whether the tea is made in the lighter Anxi style or the roasted Wuyi rock-tea style. It is now widely planted as one of the "high-aroma" cultivars used for boutique Wuyi yancha alongside its siblings Jin Guanyin and Huang Meigui.

Modern hybrid

Deliberate cross developed by tea research institutes. Developed 2003. Parent material: Tieguanyin, Huangdan (Huang Jin Gui).

Lineage data & sources

Documented cross — its two parent cultivars are recorded in tea-breeding registries; trace them in the lineage explorer.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org, teapedia.org