Camellia sinensis var. sinensis
Camellia sinensis var. sinensis is the small-leaf, cold-tolerant tea variety grown across most of China, Japan and Taiwan and used for most green teas and oolongs.
Definition
Camellia sinensis var. sinensis is the small-leaf variety of the tea plant, often called China type. It grows as a multi-stemmed shrub, has relatively small, narrow, leathery leaves, and tolerates cold far better than the large-leaf variety, surviving winters with frost and occasional snow. Most tea from eastern and central China, all mainstream Japanese tea, and most Taiwanese oolong come from sinensis plants. Longjing, Bi Luo Chun, Tieguanyin, Wuyi yancha, sencha, gyokuro and matcha are all made from it. In India, the original seed-grown bushes of Darjeeling, brought from China in the 19th century, are sinensis, often called China jat. The variety is generally associated with lighter, more aromatic and less tannic cups than assamica, partly because its leaves are lower in catechins. That generalization has many exceptions, since cultivar and processing often matter more than variety. Thousands of named cultivars exist within var. sinensis, bred for yield, frost resistance, aroma or suitability to a particular tea style.
In Depth
Typical sinensis leaves are roughly 4-10 cm long, noticeably smaller than assamica leaves. The tough, compact leaf withstands repeated rolling, which suits tightly rolled oolongs and needle-shaped Japanese greens.
Because it handles cold, sinensis can be grown at higher latitudes and altitudes: Japan's tea regions reach north of 35°N, and Darjeeling gardens climb to about 2,000 m. Slower growth in cool conditions concentrates aroma compounds, one reason high-elevation and spring teas from sinensis plants are valued.
Labels rarely state the variety. If a tea is Chinese green, Japanese, Taiwanese oolong or Darjeeling, it is almost always sinensis or a sinensis-dominated hybrid. Many modern cultivars, including some Darjeeling clones and Taiwan's TTES series, are crosses with assamica, so the line between varieties is often blurred.
See Also
- Tea Botany
- Chinese Tea Cultivars
- Japanese Tea Cultivars