Yellow teas are some of the rarest kinds of teas. They are processed in a similar way to green teas, but with an added step of steaming the tea, which adds more oxidisation and removes the more 'grassy' flavors often associated with green teas.
JunShan Mountain in Hunan is one of the most famous sources of yellow tea. The tea produced here is often used as a tribute tea for government officials - but you can read more abou the tea from this island on my other post!
Several years ago, before I left China I ordered some Yellow Silver Needle tea. It was a pretty expensive one (eek) and although I dont know if it is ACTULLY from JunShan, it was DELICIOUS to drink.
Now the tea collection is so built up, I thought it was the perfect chance to put some yellow teas side-by-side and see the flavor differences that they offer!
The teas were:
Junshan Silver Needle Tea
This tea was bought on Alibaba back when I lived in China. It is from Junshan and was harvested back in 2016.
MengDing Huang Ya from Morima Teas
This tea is from MengDing Mountain, in YaAn, Sichuan Province of China. It was harvested March 28th in 2020.
Diamond Peak from Mei Leaf
This tea is another one from Hunan, but rather than JunShan mountain its is from YueYang. It was harvested in March 2019.
Tea Tasting:
These teas were actually all quite different which makes a comparison a little tricky! We also don't have a temperature variable kettle, and I think we brewed the teas a little on the hot side, which is never ideal for their flavor! (Ooops - good excuse for take two sometime though!)
The MengDing Huangya was the most vegetal of the three, although it had some lovely sweet high-notes, some smokey or malty notes and a buttery feel in the mouth. Of the three I would say it was the most usual 'tea' flavor.
The Diamond Peak tea had the lightest flavor and aroma. It lacked a flavor impact at first with some slight vegetal notes, but after the second brew, a lovely vanilla flavor emerged at the end of the drink, which made for a pleassant - and unusual drink!
The JunShan tea was different again, as a silver needle tea it had a very different appearance. The dry leaves had a honey aroma, which went chocolatey when wet. And its flavor was one of honey and caramel. Over several brews, a light vanilla flavor emerged as in Diamond Peak, but much weaker due to the sweet overtones from the honey.
Tea Rating:
These teas were all different and all tasty in their own way! My favorite was definitely the JunShan Silver Needle - its honey/caramel sweetness was just so different to the usual tea experience that it really stands out. I have loved it since I first bought it, but I rarely drink it as it cost so much and I have such a limited supply!
JunShan - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
MengDing HuangYa - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Diamond Peak - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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