This article introduces the tea cultivar “TTES No. 1,” not the bubble tea shop chain. If you ended up here by mistake, feel free to click back! 😂 Have a wonderful day! 😉
TTES No. 1 Tea Cultivar
Bred by the Taiwan Tea Research and Extension Station (TRES), this hybrid was created through artificial crossbreeding between the male parent Kyang (an Indian large-leaf variety) and the female parent Qingxin Damou. It was officially named TTES No. 1 in 1969.
Characteristics of TTES No. 1 (adapted from the TRES): Bush-type habit, open tree posture, medium-leaf variety, oblong leaf shape, green leaf color, abundant pubes on young shoots, early budding, extremely vigorous growth (spreading), high resistance to pests, diseases, and drought. Best suited for black tea, Mee tea, and oolong tea, and ideally grown in northwestern Taiwan.
Our Observations on TTES No. 1 Tea Trees
It was bred from India’s Kyang (large-leaf cultivar) and Taiwan’s common Qingxin Damou (small-leaf cultivar). It boasts high yield, early budding, and strong growth vigor. Thanks to its high disease resistance and uniform budding, it is well-suited for machine harvesting. While it yields average quality when processed into lightly fermented oolong, it is better suited for heavily fermented oolong and black tea.
As the very first numbered cultivar in Taiwan, it holds great significance in Taiwanese tea history. However, because it is best suited for black teas rather than Taiwan’s mainstream lightly fermented oolongs, and its quality does not match Qingxin Oolong, teas made from TTES No. 1 are virtually impossible to find on the market. The photos were taken in early April at Wunshen Farm in Xindian District—TTES No. 1 clearly sprouts earlier than other cultivars and exhibits vigorous growth.