TeaHQ

Shu Cha Zao

An Anhui cultivar selected for early budding, named after Shucheng county — the zao at the end of a Chinese cultivar name means early, and it appears on a great many of them for the same commercial reason that wase appears on Japanese ones. It is planted for green tea across Anhui and neighbouring provinces.

舒茶早Camellia sinensis var. sinensisShu Cha ZaoChinaAlso called Shucha Early

Where it sits in the botany

Shu Cha Zao 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.

Registration code: Shu Cha Zao. A breeding or registration code identifies the selection in an institutional register and is often the name a grower uses when the trade name is not.

Also transliterated as: shu cha zao, shuchazao.

Where it came from

Selected in Anhui from local population material and released as a national cultivar for early green tea production.

How firm this is: Inferred rather than taken from a primary breeding or registration record. Release year and the selection’s parent population were not verified against a primary source.

What the plant is like

Early, uniform and productive, with a fine downy bud suited to the bud-and-leaf green teas of the region. Selected against the calendar rather than for a distinctive aroma.

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.

  • Green tea — Tea whose oxidation is halted early by heat, keeping the leaf green and the cup fresh, vegetal or marine in character.

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