Yellow tea is a particular lightly oxidized tea, either Chinese huángchá (黄茶; 黃茶) and Korean hwangcha (황차; 黃茶).[1][2]

Yellow tea
TypeTea
Country of origin China
Region of originEast Asia
ColorYellow
IngredientsTea leaves
Related productsTea

Chinese huángchá

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Chinese name
Traditional Chinese黃茶
Simplified Chinese黄茶
Literal meaningYellow tea
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinhuángchá
Wade–Gileshuang2-ch'a2
IPA[xwǎŋ.ʈʂʰǎ]
Hakka
Romanizationvòng-chhà

Huángchá is increasingly rare and expensive.[3]: 58  The process for making it is similar to that of green tea but with an added step of encasing, or sweltering,[a] giving the leaves a slightly yellow coloring during the drying process.[3]: 32  Chinese yellow tea is often placed in the same category as green tea because of its light oxidation. One of the primary aims of making it is to remove the characteristic grassy smell of green tea.

Varieties

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Korean hwangcha

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Korean name
Hangul
황차
Hanja
黃茶
Revised Romanizationhwangcha
McCune–Reischauerhwangch'a
IPA[hwaŋ.tɕʰa]

In Korean tea terminology, domestic tea is categorized mainly as either green (nokcha; 녹차) or fermented (balhyocha; 발효차), "fermented" here practically meaning "oxidized";[6] "yellow tea" (hwangcha) denotes lightly oxidized balhyocha without implications of processing methods or a result that would qualify the tea as "yellow" in the Chinese definition.[6] Unlike Chinese huángchá, Korean hwangcha is made similarly to oolong tea or lightly oxidized black tea, depending on who makes it. The key feature is a noticeable but otherwise relatively low level of oxidation which leaves the resulting tea liquor yellow in color.[citation needed]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Unique to yellow teas, warm and damp tea leaves from after kill-green are allowed to be lightly heated in a closed container, which causes the previously green leaves to turn yellow. The resulting leaves produce a beverage that has a distinctive yellowish-green hue due to transformations of the leaf chlorophyll.[4] Through being sweltered for 6–8 hours at close to human body temperatures, the amino acids and polyphenols in the processed tea leaves undergo chemical changes to give this tea its distinct briskness and mellow taste.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "黄茶" [huángchá]. LINE Dictionary. Naver Corporation. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  2. ^ "hwangcha" 황차 [yellow tea]. Standard Korean Language Dictionary (in Korean). National Institute of Korean Language. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  3. ^ a b Gascoyne, Kevin; Marchand, François; Desharnais, Jasmin; Americi, Hugo (2011). Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties. Richmond Hill, ON: Firefly Books. ISBN 9781554079377.
  4. ^ ZHOU, Ji-rong; CHEN, Yu-qiong; SUN, Ya; NI, De-jiang (2005), "Studies on the Piling Technological Effects on Luyuan Yellow Tea", Food Science
  5. ^ Gong, Yong xin; Cai, Lie wei; Cai, Shi wen; Jin, Hua jun (2000), "Study on the Effect of Stack cover Process on the Taste of Yellow Tea", Journal of Tea Science
  6. ^ a b Gebely, Tony (7 December 2013). "South Korean Balhyocha & Hwangcha". World of Tea. Retrieved 28 January 2017.