I've noticed that this blog is pretty heavily biased towards puer teas and darker oolongs. The reasons for this are two(or maybe more)fold: 1. I really love puers and oolongs! 2. Because I am neurotically picky about lighter teas. Actually, lighter teas such as an ji bai cha or ali sha jin xuan are at the top of my favourites list but those are hella expensive teas. I haven't found that there's quite as much range in complexity of flavours in green/yellow/white teas as in puer/oolong/blacks but I could just go for a less expensive, lower grade lighter tea... but I feel that once those high end teas have been experienced it's kind of like... why go back?? It's like what they say about... something else which I will not repeat here! The point is, though we've got dozens of oolongs and puers, I really only have one green tea in my collection, one white, one Taiwanese oolong, and one yellow. I only take the best! The best of the yellow, in my mock-expert opinion, is this one.
Today’s choice: Yellow Buds (2012) meng ding huang ya [蒙頂黄芽]
Type: Yellow tea
Because: Wanted to match the walls. For all the nutrients and antioxidising health benefits of green tea with the easier-on-your-stomach quality that yellow provides.
Directions: Approximately 3 grams for a ~12oz pot, about 80*C/175*F water, let the first one sit about 2 minutes, able to be used 5+ times- just let each subsequent infusion sit a bit longer.
If only I liked yellow walls as much as yellow tea.
Yellow tea is an incredibly rare art form! There are very few yellow teas in production for a couple reasons. First is probably that producing yellow tea a very long, labourious process that can take days of vigilant tea-watching to do right. Second is probably just that it isn't in high demand. This in itself is also for a couple of reasons that in turn seem rather cyclical. I'll try to address them in this post, but I make no promises for my attention span. It's not like I'm a yellow tea master or some shit.
Pretty much everyone has heard of green tea. They might not know what it is REALLY or what differentiates it from something else or even how to prepare it, but chances are, everyone's heard of green tea. Yellow tea, though? It's far more obscure. It is only slightly oxidised, which is what first separates it from green (100% unoxidised) and black (100% oxidised) and obviously it's not a puer because it hasn't undergone any sort of fermentation.
The way that it is processed is actually very similar to how they make green tea. First, the leaves are fried, but the drying phase of the yellow tea takes longer because they allow the damp leaves to sit and yellow (oxidise), which they prevent in green tea. During this time, they also refry and repack the yellow leaves periodically, paying very close attention to the leaves at all times. I remember hearing that during the yellow tea process it might be three days before the tea master gets any substantial sleep or break at all.
That's three days of someone's starvation and insomnia I hold in my undeserving hand.
The hard labour and patience required for this tea often, unfortunately, does not pay off for the producers. It's much easier to make green tea, and since that's what everyone is already familiar with, the tea masters dedicated to this type of tea are very few indeed. Yellow tea is often produced in areas known for producing green tea and I've heard rumours of people claiming to sell "yellow tea" when in fact it's the same leaves that have been used to produce yellow tea processed in the green tea style, therefore making it a green tea. And, with so few yellow tea experts and even fewer producers, who could tell the difference?
A well-centered tea pot.
Since the main reason for making yellow tea over green tea is to leave the anti-oxidant packed nutrition factors the same but reduce the overwhelming grassy aroma/flavour, dry yellow tea smells much different than dry green tea. High end green tea basically smells like lawn clippings. This tea is far more mild in both scent and taste. It's similar, but more mellow and slightly sweet. It's also easier on an empty stomach than pure green tea which can leave a hungry person feeling almost queasy.
I've said it before and I'll say it again- do not pour boiling water on yellow tea!!!!! (or white or green or even a light oolong!!!) I don't know how many exclamation points it takes to drive that point home but I'll put a thousand if I need to! It will ruin your tea! I put a bit of room temperature water at the bottom of the pot to kind of shield the leaves from the hot-but-still-not-boiling water I then poured over them.
Yellow tea also has a very specific tea-picking time- the first picking of spring. This specific tea that we are having came from March 2012.
Now with 75% less lawnmower smell!
The first infusion of this tea should be let to sit for a couple minutes. It's slightly astringent, but not bitter. Grassy, but mellow. The more infusions it goes through, the less astringent and more smooth it will become as the antioxidents are released from the leaves. It's also got a faint hint of sweetness.
Because of its rarity and time-consuming nature, this tea has also been a 'tribute tea' meaning that it's been served at the Imperial Court for the Emperor. And if it's good enough for an emperor, it's good enough for me! Bottoms up!
