Yellow tea is an unoxidized tea just like green tea, which why it’s often mistaken and sold as green tea. Even though the manufacturing process of yellow tea is very similar to green, there are some differences.
Before the first firing (drying) yellow tea undergoes an additional step called mèn huáng. In English mèn means "smothering" and huáng means “ yellowing”. In this step the tea leaves are covered with a cloth to smother them. During this phase the leaves reabsorb their own aromatics due to the changes in the internal chemistry of the leaves. Within this phase the leaves can be uncovered, fired quickly, and covered again. The phase can last from a few hours to a few days. After the smothering step the processing follows the same processing flow of green tea.
To produce yellow tea, manufacturers use either early spring buds or a mao feng pluck. Yellow tea doesn’t have the astringent and grassy taste of green tea, it’s rather fragrant and sweet.
Because of the additional processing and work, there are very few yellow teas manufactured nowadays. Meng Ding Shan Huang Ya (Meng Ding Mountain Yellow Sprout) from Sichuan province, Jun Shan Yin Zhen (Jun Mountain Silver Needle) from Hunan province, and Mogan Shan Huang Ya (Mogan Mountain Yellow Sprout) from Zhejiang province are among them.