TeaHQ

Ba Xian

A Phoenix Dan Cong type propagated, by the usual account, from cuttings taken to eight separate plots — the origin of the ‘eight immortals’ name. It gives a thick, sweet, orchid-and-fruit character with more body than most Dan Cong types, and it is one of the cultivars that has travelled furthest from Phoenix Mountain into plantings elsewhere in Guangdong.

八仙Camellia sinensis var. sinensisChinaAlso called Eight Immortals

Where it sits in the botany

Ba Xian is recorded under Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, the variety group one level above cultivar. It is associated with China, which is where it was selected or is most widely planted rather than the only place it grows.

Also transliterated as: ba xian, baxian.

What the plant is like

Fuller-bodied than most Dan Cong types, with a sweet orchid-and-ripe-fruit profile and good longevity across infusions.

What it is usually made into

The categories this cultivar is typically processed into. It is a statement about common practice, not a limit — processing decides the category, and a cultivar can be taken down more than one route.

  • Oolong — Partially oxidised teas, bruised deliberately and often roasted — the widest-ranging category in tea.

Teas in the catalogue made from Ba Xian

Other cultivars in Camellia sinensis var. sinensis

Sources

  • TeaHQ editorial synthesis — TeaHQ

This page is TeaHQ’s own synthesis throughout. No breeding register or institutional record stands behind the account above, which is why the origin note carries its confidence in the open rather than reading as a citation.

How TeaHQ handles sources

Written comparisons

Where TeaHQ has set this cultivar against something it is routinely confused with, and argued the differences out in full.

  • Xing Ren Xiang vs Ba Xian — Two Dan Cong types for drinkers who find the floral aroma types thin. Both carry more body than the gardenia-and-orchid group, and one of them is normally finished with a heavier roast that pushes it towards Wuyi territory.