Camellia sinensis var. sinensis
★★★☆☆
Mao Xie
Also known as: Maoxie · Hairy Crab
Bright, grassy-floral and faintly fruity. Anxi's high-yield 'Hairy Crab' green oolong.
Species
var. sinensis
Lineage
Heirloom
Country
China (Fujian)
Year
Traditional
Leaf size
Medium
Cup quality
3/5
Mao Xie (毛蟹, "Hairy Crab") is a traditional Anxi oolong cultivar, named for the fine hairs along its sharply serrated leaf margins. Records describe it spreading across Anxi after a grower brought back around a hundred plants near 1907, prized for being productive and dependable.
Made in the modern lightly-oxidised Anxi style, Mao Xie gives a bright, grassy-floral cup with a faint fruity edge — fresher and simpler than Tieguanyin. It is an inexpensive, approachable green-style oolong widely used as an everyday tea and as an introduction to Anxi oolong.
Heirloom
Traditional cultivar predating modern selection programs.
Lineage data & sources
Clonal / landrace selection — selected from its regional population, so a specific mother and father plant are not individually documented.
Sources: curioustea.com
Teas produced
Oolong (light)
Flavor signature
Growing regions
- Fujian (Anxi)
Origins where Mao Xie grows
Brands likely carrying Mao Xie
Direct-sourcing operations with focus areas that align with this cultivar's typical growing regions.