Yellow Tea

Yellow tea (huang cha) is a very rare, unique, labor-intensive tea that has been produced solely in China for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years. Due to increased demand, it is also being produced in Vietnam and Kenya. Some classify yellow tea as a green tea; however, it truly is a distinct type of tea that undergoes a distinguishing processing step called Men Huang (Sealing Yellow). After withering, a slight and slow steaming warms the leaves so that they will undergo an as-yet-to-be-identified chemical process when they go through the men huang step. During men huang, the leaves are piled and wrapped up in a basket with damp cloth or spread out and covered with damp cloth and allowed to rest from 4 to 72 hours. There is   debate as to whether or not the leaves undergo slight oxidation. The men huang process yellows the leaves and yields an infusion with a mellow taste and aroma that lacks the astringency, and minimizes the vegetal and grassy characteristics of green tea. Yellow teas are usually named after the mountain that is located near where they are produced. We offer yellow tea from two provinces in China.