It’s just been in recent years that teas other than black have caught on in the U.S. Even so, white and green teas have received the most attention because of the many health benefits attributed to them. So it’s somewhat unlikely that you’ve even heard of, much less sampled yellow tea–what I call “the black sheep of teas.” |
Yellow tea doesn’t fall neatly into any of the given categories, so it even stumps the tea experts outside of China, giving them pause for thought when trying to explain exactly what it is.Yellow tea starts out just like the other teas from the camellia sinensis tree, and like the other teas, it’s the varying manufacturing techniques that determines the leaf’s final outcome. To that end, yellow tea has a lot in common |
After the initial air drying, and just before the first firing, yellow tea undergoes an important additional step the Chinese call “men huan” (meaning “sealing yellow”). In this step the leaves are given a light, slow steam, before being covered with a cloth, allowing the leaves to breathe and reabsorb their own aroma.This smothering cover step can last anywhere from several hours to several days, during which time the sweetness of the tea and the fragrance slowly increase. By gently controlling the moisture content of the leaf, the chemistry is altered, making yellow
Yellow tea is less likely to develop the strong, It’s even possible that some teas that are currently being Enjoy.Note: White, yellow, and green teas provide a great boost to |