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.
Pingyang Huangtang (平陽黃湯): from Zhejiang Province, China. Could be called one of the Wenzhou Huangtang (溫州黃湯); the latter term is literally translated as Yellow Broth or Yellow Soup.
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]
^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]
^ abGascoyne, Kevin; Marchand, François; Desharnais, Jasmin; Americi, Hugo (2011). Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties. Richmond Hill, ON: Firefly Books. ISBN9781554079377.
^ZHOU, Ji-rong; CHEN, Yu-qiong; SUN, Ya; NI, De-jiang (2005), "Studies on the Piling Technological Effects on Luyuan Yellow Tea", Food Science
^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
