Yellow Tea
A rare Chinese tea category made like green tea with an added sealed-yellowing step, menhuang, that mellows the leaf and turns it yellow.
Definition
Yellow tea (huang cha) starts like green tea: fresh leaves are heated to stop enzymatic oxidation. The difference is an extra step called menhuang, or sealed yellowing. The warm, damp leaf is wrapped in cloth or paper, or piled in a closed container, for hours up to a few days. Heat and moisture drive slow non-enzymatic changes that yellow the chlorophyll and reduce grassy and bitter compounds. The finished tea is softer and sweeter than green tea, with less vegetal edge. The traditional famous yellow teas are Junshan Yinzhen from Junshan Island in Hunan, Meng Ding Huang Ya from Mount Meng in Sichuan, and Huoshan Huang Ya from Anhui province. All three are bud or bud-and-leaf spring teas. Yellow tea is the smallest of China's six main tea categories. The menhuang step is labor-intensive and easy to get wrong, and many producers make their leaf into green tea instead because green tea sells more easily. Some teas sold as yellow tea today are processed with a shortened yellowing step and taste close to green tea.
In Depth
Brew at 75-85°C (167-185°F), slightly hotter than delicate green tea. Use 3 g per 150 ml in a glass or gaiwan with 1-2 minute steeps, or 4-5 g in a gaiwan for short gongfu infusions. A tall glass shows off bud teas such as Junshan Yinzhen, whose buds stand upright and sink and rise in the water.
To tell a real yellow tea from a green tea labeled yellow: the dry leaf should look yellow-green rather than bright green, the liquor should be pale yellow, and the flavor should be mellow, sweet and corn- or chestnut-like with little grassiness. A sharp, fresh-cut-grass taste suggests the yellowing step was skipped or minimal.
Some Korean teas are called "hwangcha" (yellow tea) but are partially oxidized and closer to light black or oolong tea. They are not the same as Chinese huang cha.
See Also
- Six Chinese Tea Categories
- Hunan Tea
- Sichuan Tea