What is yellow tea and why is it so rare?
I've heard of yellow tea but never seen one in shops. What is it?
Yellow tea (黄茶, huangcha) is the rarest of China's six tea categories. It's made like green tea but with an added 'sealed yellowing' step (men huang) where the warm leaves are wrapped in cloth for hours or days, causing a gentle non-enzymatic transformation. The result: green tea's freshness without the grassy edge, plus a soft, mellow, slightly buttery character. Production is tiny — fewer than 1% of Chinese tea farms make it — which is why prices are high and shop availability is rare.
— Yurii — 931 Tea, 931 Tea