Yellow Tea
Yellow tea usually implies a special tea
processed similarly to green tea, but with a slower drying phase, where the damp
tea leaves are allowed to sit and yellow. The tea generally has a very
yellow-green appearance and a smell different from both white tea and green tea.
The smell is sometimes mistaken for black if the tea is cured with other herbs,
but similarities in taste can still be drawn between yellow, green and white
teas.
It can, however, also describe high-quality teas served at
the Imperial court, although this can be applied to any form of
imperially-served tea.
Yellow Tea is high in
antioxidants and relatively low in caffeine. The relatively light processing
methods used to make Yellow Teas causes them to have particularly high levels of
catechin polyphenols – the most important of which is epigallocatechin gallate
(EGCG), a powerful antioxidant which has been linked to inhibiting cancer and
heart disease.