The raw materials for making yellow tea and the origin of their production

　As we all know, in the process of making green tea, if the fresh leaves cannot be kneaded in time after killing, or if they cannot be dried and fried in time after kneading, they will accumulate for too long, which will lead to yellowing.

　　The low temperature of the greening, or the killing time is too long, it will also make the leaves yellow, resulting in yellow soup yellow leaves, so yellow tea is also derived from this, as follows!

　　Raw material for making yellow tea

　　Yellow tea is a Specialty of China. According to the size of the fresh leaves, the old young buds are divided into yellow bud tea, yellow small tea and yellow big tea. Yellow bud tea mainly includes Junshan silver needle, Mengding yellow bud and Huoshan yellow bud, Yuan'an yellow tea; such as Fengshan Maojian, Pingyang Huangtang, Ya'an Yellow Tea, etc. are all yellow small teas. After the three gorges reservoir area was filled with water, the zigui mountainous area was shrouded in fog all year round, forming a unique zigui yellow tea, which also belongs to the yellow tea.

　　Origin of yellow tea making

　　In the process of making green tea, people have found that the changes in tea quality caused by different processing conditions are also different. After a long period of arduous exploration, some laws were summarized from it, and different tea making processes were invented successively, and yellow tea is one of them.

　　According to historical speculation, yellow tea was produced in the 7th century AD. But the yellow tea at that time was different from today's, it was made from the young buds of a naturally yellowed tea plant variety, such as the famous Anhui "Shouzhou Yellow Bud" in the Tang Dynasty, which was named after the naturally yellowed tea bud steaming as a group of teas. The yellow tea that is now referred to refers to the improvement and gradual evolution of the "stewed yellow" process in the production of green tea.

　　The production process of yellow tea

　　1. Kill the green

　　Yellow tea kills green through high temperature to destroy the enzyme activity, stop the enzymatic oxidation of polyphenolic compounds, evaporate part of the water, emit grass gas, and play an important role in the formation of aroma and taste. Like green tea, yellow tea also follows the principle of "high temperature killing, first high and then low" to completely destroy the enzyme activity, prevent the production of red stem red leaves, and kill evenly. The quality of Shidan yellow tea is characterized by yellow leaf yellow soup, so the temperature and technology of killing green have their own special features.

　　Compared with green tea with the same tenderness, the amount of leaves thrown into yellow tea is more, the temperature of the pot is low, and the time is longer. This requires that when killing green, it is appropriate to be more stuffy and less thrown, so as to quickly increase the leaf temperature, meet the requirements of destroying the activity of enzymes, and at the same time promote the development of inclusions in the direction conducive to the formation of yellow tea quality through damp heat.

　　2. Kneading

　　The kneading of yellow tea can be kneaded while hot, which is not only conducive to kneading into strips under the action of damp heat, but also plays a sultry role. At the same time, the leaf temperature is higher after hot kneading, which is conducive to accelerating the process of smouldering. Therefore, in the late stage or after the killing of yellow tea, the new technology of high-quality tea processing and the hand stir-fry while stir-frying and kneading, that is, heating and twisting to make strips. The yellow tea should be kneaded lightly to prevent the tea juice from being squeezed out and the color turning black.

　　3. Stuffy yellow

　　Stuffy yellow is a unique process of yellow tea processing, and it is also a key process for the formation of yellow tea quality. Yellow tea is stuffy yellow after killing green or kneading wet blanks, and there are also dry blanks after initial drying. The main factors affecting the yellowing are the water content and leaf temperature of the tea leaves.

　　The initial leaf temperature of the smouldering yellow, the thermal insulation conditions of the stuffy yellow leaves, the impact on the sultry yellowing is greater, in order to control the process of yellowing, usually to use hot and sultry yellow, sometimes baking, frying to increase the leaf temperature, promote yellow change; but if necessary, you can also reduce the leaf temperature by turning the pile. In the process of smouldering yellowing, it is necessary to control the change of the water content of the tea blank to prevent a large amount of water loss, especially the wet blank pile should pay attention to the relative humidity and ventilation of the environment, and if necessary, it should be covered with a damp cloth to improve local humidity and control air circulation.

　　The length of yellowing time is closely related to the yellowing requirements, the water content of the tea blank, and the leaf temperature. Generally, the wet blank after greening or kneading is dull yellow, due to the higher water content of the leaves, the change is faster, the smouldering time is shorter, and the smouldering time of different teas ranges from tens of minutes to several hours; and the dry blank after the initial drying is dull yellow, due to the small water content of the leaves, the change is slower, and the smouldering time is longer.

　　4. Dry

　　Yellow tea is generally dried in stages. There are two methods of drying: drying and frying. The drying temperature is lower than other teas, and it follows the principle of "first low and then high". First low temperature roasting, in fact, slow down the evaporation rate of water, create moist and hot conditions, so that the tea leaves in the slow drying and loss of water at the same time, under the action of damp heat, the inclusions are further slowly converted, there is a further sultry yellowing effect. That is, while drying, while sullen yellow, so that the formation and development of quality is more perfect. In the later stage, a higher temperature is used to roast, fix the quality of the yellow tea that has been formed, and at the same time, under dry and hot conditions, the aroma is further developed.

　　Types of yellow tea

　　1. North Port Maojian

　　Beigang Maojian has been very famous since the Tang Dynasty, this yellow tea will generally choose to be picked within a week after the Qingming Dynasty, and it is a sunny day, oh, its tea color is purple, very easy to identify.

　　2. Big leaf green

　　The main production of large-leaf green and yellow tea in Guangdong, especially in the mountainous areas of northern Guangdong, is more outstanding, with a fat and tight appearance, old and tender uniform, and the brewed tea soup is very mellow and sweet.

　　3. Seahorse Palace Tea

　　Yellow tea Haima Palace tea is mainly grown at the foot of Eagle Rock in guizhou mountain village, in the ultra-natural climate environment, resulting in Haima Palace tea has super tenderness, the shape of this tea is a tight knot type, the tea color is tender yellow and bright.

　　4. White hair tip of the mountain

　　Bai Mao tip is also a kind of yellow tea, mainly grown in the Ningxiang area of Hunan, this tea is a micro-roll shape, and the tea color is yellow and bright and oily, and the tea aroma is even more aromatic.

　　In summary, yellow tea refers to a kind of high-quality tea that has been improved and gradually evolved through the "stewing yellow" process in the production of green tea, and the picking standards are buds, one bud and one leaf, one bud and two leaves, one bud three leaves, one bud four leaves!