While yellow tea is typically under-represented in the tea world, this Mengding yellow tea demonstrates why this category deserves more attention. Traditionally processed using a paper-wrapped “huangmen”, the use of slightly more developed spring material offers notes of sweet corn, balances out by a slight roasted flavour that is unique to yellow teas, and a bit hard to pin down without trying for yourself.

This tea uses “huangxiao cha” (small yellow tea), which is similar to the more common “huangya” (yellow bud). The difference is that this tea is picked a little bit later, outside of Qingming, but still within the window of “pre-rain”. At this point the tea buds have grown out a little longer, offering a tip and 1-2 leaves. This results in a tea that nicely balances delicate fragrances with a smoother and fuller body and flavour, and in our opinion an overall better value.

Brewing-wise, there is some flexibility. This can be a gentle and delicate tea, or slightly more aggressive tea, depending on how you brew it. If you choose to brew it gongfu style, we recommend a slightly higher ratio of 1g of tea : 20ml of water and 90c temperature for the water.

You can brew this similarly to a green tea in a glass cup or pitcher by adding some cooler water (85c, about 1/3 full), then 3-4g of tea, stirring, and topping up with additional water and drinking once the leaves start to open up. We highly recommend adjusting these parameters to taste and feeling it out though.

This tea also performs extremely well cold brewed, in our experience.

For storage, this tea should also be kept sealed, with minimal exposure to oxygen and no exposure to light or fragrances, preferably at a low temperature of 18c or less.

$0.40-0.47/g

The material from this tea comes from Mengding qunti zhong lao chuan cha (old Sichuan varietal) that is traditionally processed. If you’re new to yellow tea, then you’re in for a treat. Initially, yellow tea is treated like green tea, undergoing withering and fixing, deactivating the enzymes in the leaves, before being dried. It then achieves its unique character through a process called “men huang” (闷黄 – literally “seal yellow”).

The process of men huang involves wrapping the leaves in cloth or paper (in this tea’s case, paper) and allowing them to sit, facilitating further non-enzymatic oxidation. This labour intensive step is what produces this tea’s yellow colour and smooth, sweet character, while at the same time diminishing bitterness and vegetal qualities.