Da Ye Huang Cha

A tea of remarkable intensity. Brew it with short infusions and it will reward you with extraordinary depth and complexity; push it too far and its strength can become overwhelming. Precision is richly rewarded. The hot wet leaves immediately evoke freshly popped popcorn, a note that carries into the first infusion. A gentle sweetness appears on the palate, accompanied by nuances of popped rice and warm grains. The second infusion develops greater depth and body, revealing notes of sweet corn and stewed fennel. With further infusions, the texture becomes even richer and a subtle roasted character emerges. Attentive drinkers may also discover delicate fruity accents reminiscent of ripe yellow plums lingering in the finish. This is not a tea that seeks elegance through restraint. It expresses the bold potential of yellow tea through concentration, structure, and a surprisingly broad aromatic spectrum. The tea comes from an ecological tea garden located on the slopes above the famous natural hot springs of Wenquan. The plantation has been officially recognized as an Ecological Tea Garden of Guangdong Province. Yellow tea is among the rarest categories of Chinese tea, and this example is rarer still; it represents years of experimentation across all tea categories. Tea processing What makes this tea particularly unusual is the execution of the yellowing process. While many yellow teas undergo relatively gentle treatment, the producer subjected the leaves to unusually demanding conditions of temperature and humidity. To maintain clarity and prevent stale aromas from developing, the tea was dried every 24 hours and then returned to the yellowing stage, completing three consecutive cycles over a total of 72 hours. The result is a fully developed yellow tea character while preserving remarkable aromatic purity. Curiosity Ah-Ming calls the tea 广东大叶青黄茶 (guangdong da ye qing huang cha), literally Guangdong Large Leaf Fresh Yellow Tea. Here, qing does not refer to freshness in the sensory sense, but rather to the vigorous botanical character and integrity of the large leaves, combined with an early harvest. Written by Gabriele The video below was filmed during my last visit to the producer in Guangzhou, where I tasted this tea and visited his new hidden factory.