A disciple asked the old, wise Lao Cha:
– What is this rare tea, Shifu? It reminds me of green tea, but its shape is that of pu-erh, and the taste is like nothing I have ever tried before?
– This, my boy, is the rare Yellow tea. Coming from the misty slopes of Meng Mountain, it takes the green tea processing ways a step further to create its wonderful satisfying taste and a refreshing chestnut aroma. Have a sip - your body will be thankful for it!
From the misty shrouded peaks of Meng Shan in Sichuan comes a rare tea in an even rarer form. We present our Meng Ding Huang Cha Yellow Tea Brick.
It is an exquisite yellow tea – the rarest among all six tea types. Yellow tea has an elaborate production process that requires both skill and practice. In recent decades, the traditional production method has been largely replaced with quicker, more standardized machine production. Therefore, the masters trained in the traditional production method of this craft tea, get fewer by the year. Master Yao is among the few tea farmers who remain loyal to the old practices. He’s only using traditional bamboo baskets in the preliminary phases and a real wood fire for the final drying and baking of the tea leaves.
For the production of Meng Ding Huang Cha Yellow Tea Brick, master Yao uses the more mature, grown-up leaves picked in springtime. They produce a sweeter tea soup with a more pronounced, thicker mouthfeel. In springtime, after picking the leaves, the farmers roast them quickly over a high fire. Next, they “stuff” them for no less than 72 hours. It is the critical step in the production of yellow tea, called Men Huang (闷黄). It shapes the character of the tea and defines the quality of the end product. The master can only rely on his skills and gut feeling to achieve a good result, as well as to know when to stop the process. The initial drying lasts for 24 hours. It’s followed by further baking the tea leaves over a charcoal fire, repeated up to three times. The tea is then pressed into bricks and left to dry further for at least one year, before coming out of the warehouse. That kind of yellow tea ages just like pu-erh and hei cha. In line with the traditional ways, every step in the processing of this tea is done by hand.
Our Mengding Huang Cha Yellow Tea Brick has an even, dark khaki surface with inner luster and occasional yellow-green hues. Its raw material comes from wildly growing tea bushes from an old local cultivar, planted on the slopes of Meng Mountain more than seven decades ago. The smell is delicate, with notes of raw cocoa nibs, grains, and chestnut hue. After waking up the tea leaves, they quickly ooze out a clear, oily yellow tea liquor. This yellow tea has a thick, oily mouthfeel. Cocoa and grainy notes dominate the taste. The throat is smooth and comfortable, refreshing yet without astringency. You will feel a gush of inner warmth spreading all over your body. The comforting sensation will stay with you long after this tea ritual.
Watch a short video about Yellow Tea
- Place of Origin: Mengding, Meng Mountain, Ya'an, Sichuan Province, China
- Altitude: 1000m
- Harvest Date: April-May 2023
- Pressed: April 2024
- Picking Standard: Bud with two or three leaves
- Aroma: Cocoa nibs, chestnut
- Taste: Refreshing yet comforting taste with notes of cocoa and grains
- Cultivar: Lao Chuan Cha (老川茶)
Brewing guidelines:
205℉ / 95℃ 
1g per 60ml 
3-5min
1g per 25ml 5sec + 5sec for each subsequent infusion