Aged Imperial Yellow Tea
DESCRIPTION
For years, Roy has been looking for a suitable candidate to fill our Imperial designation in the Yellow tea category. The 2012 aged edition Imperial Yellow Tea satisfies all his stringent requirements to earn the Imperial designation. Beautifully and meticulously sorted leaves are contrasted with white tips and darker twisted needles. The tea offers unique fragrances and a full-bodied mouthfeel with complex layers of flavors. It is forgiving enough that you can brew almost any way you like to always have a good experience. This tea is produced using the traditional “sealing yellow” technique, in which the tea is withered, pan-fired, and rolled as in standard pan-fired green tea processes. Before thoroughly drying, the leaves are wrapped in rough paper packets overnight and then re-fired until completely dry. This process gently “ferments” the tea by retaining the residual moisture and heat in the paper packets, which turns the leaves into a darker shade and produces its signature deep yellow liquor. The process also helps remove some of the grassy astringency commonly found in many green teas.
Yellow tea is a relatively rare category and they are becoming even more difficult to find. Although yellow teas are still being offered, farmers now produce yellow varietals by skipping the “sealing yellow”, avoiding the time-consuming and complicated production method. One sip of this authentic yellow tea will tell you why the tried and true traditions are best not altered.
GROWING REGION
Hunan, China: This Province enjoys four distinctive seasons, with plenty of rainfall in spring and summer followed by a dry autumn. Tea farms here are often located in hilly areas and sometimes in high-altitude, mountainous regions. Varieties produced in this area include green, black, and yellow, as well as various scented teas
BREWING SUGGESTIONS
Imperial Yellow Tea is versatile and can be brewed from lower temperature to near boiling. Variation in water temperature and steeping time can result in dramatically different flavor profiles and will allow for varying numbers of infusions. Always adjust brewing temperature, steeping time and quantity of leaves used, based on your own preferences. Don’t be afraid to experiment with food pairing!
Yum – smooth mellow refreshes your whole mouth and tongue with no bitterness or sharp flavors or after-tastes
THIS is how yellow tea should taste–this is my second or third order of this fascinating brew! Well-rounded flavors melding together as a unique category of tea.
This is by far the very best yellow tea I have had in this country—I have re-ordered so I don’t run out!!
This is what a Yellow SHOULD taste like although yellow teas–GOOD ones!–are a rare find most of the time!! But this one is a real Find!! Probably the best yellow I have had in “I don’t know when!”
Wish I could afford to drink it every day.