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.