TeaHQ

Bai He

One of the numbered Taiwanese releases from the middle of the series, between the well-known early numbers and the Jin Xuan generation. Taiwan’s numbering runs continuously from the first releases to the most recent, and the gaps in public awareness of it are commercial rather than botanical: a number becomes famous when a tea made from it sells, and the rest stay in the research record.

白鶴Camellia sinensis var. sinensisTRES No. 16TaiwanAlso called TRES No. 16Also called Taicha No. 16Also called White Crane

Where it sits in the botany

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

Registration code: TRES No. 16. 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: bai he, baihe.

Where it came from

Released by Taiwan’s tea research station within its numbered Taicha series, and used for green and lightly oxidised production.

How firm this is: Inferred rather than taken from a primary breeding or registration record. The designation is genuine. The release year, parentage and intended category were not verified against a primary source, and the intended use is stated here only in general terms for that reason.

What the plant is like

Numbered Taiwanese cultivars are released with a documented intended category, and Bai He is one of the numbers that never acquired a market identity to match. It is planted in modest quantity and rarely named on a package.

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

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