TeaHQ

Qin Yu

One of the more recent Taiwanese numbered releases, from the period when the station’s breeding priorities had shifted towards disease resistance and reliability rather than aroma alone. That shift reflects a real change on the ground: Taiwan’s tea area has contracted, its labour has become scarce and expensive, and a cultivar that survives with less intervention has a commercial argument that a merely fragrant one does not.

沁玉Camellia sinensis var. sinensisTRES No. 22TaiwanAlso called TRES No. 22Also called Taicha No. 22

Where it sits in the botany

Qin Yu 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. 22. 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: qin yu, qinyu.

Where it came from

A twenty-first-century release within Taiwan’s numbered Taicha series.

How firm this is: Inferred rather than taken from a primary breeding or registration record. The designation is genuine; the release year, parentage and the specific traits selected for were not verified against a primary source.

What the plant is like

Recent enough that its planted area is small and its market identity is still forming, which is the normal state of a numbered release for its first decade or two.

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.

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