Yellow tea review (wow wow!) Jun Shan Huang Mao Jian

Edited post on the 22nd of August 2014 for the new tea blog

Today is special! I review a type of tea that is often forgotten. Some say it doesn't exist... I beg to differ, you unbelievers!
Yellow tea is very real, very rare and precious...

I bought a few yellow teas from the Camellia Sinensis Store in Montreal and I thought my blog -- and you guys -- deserved to get a yellow tea review!

Without further ado, here it comes! Slowly, mellowly and deliciously:

Jun Shan Huang Mao Jian

from the Chinese gardens of Jun Shan Island, sold by the Camellia Sinensis store in Montreal

 http://camellia-sinensis.com/en/jun-shan-huang-mao-jian

This tea was processed in the Mao Jian style as stated in the name.

Dry leaf:

• Curled twisted leaves
• White fuzzy leaves amongst dark green ones
• Light mimosa flower smell, with a hint of peach and cream
• Creamy sweetness to it with honey wax scent

Steeping method: teapot (500ml / 2 cups yield)

5 minutes - 2 cups (500 ml) of water - 3 teaspoons of tea - 80C

Liquor: 

• Clear and shiny with a creamy viscosity to it
• Fragrant
• Light peach/ apricot, creamy smell
• Soapy mimosa smell, hay and sweet notes
• Yellow-hay colour

Taste:

• Clear taste, light sourness
• Sweet, no bitterness
• Flowery aftertaste reminding me of rose petals and how they almost feel bitter but aren't
• Light jammy feeling like raspberry or strawberry jam (as opposed to jellies)
• Some astringency
• Hay with some light mineral or metallic taste but that could have been me and not the tea as I've had this tea before and don't recall any metallic taste
• Smooth in the mouth
• Taste is light and delicate like a white tea and long in mouth
• Round and flowing
• Ascending notes that dissipate quickly into a less complex taste
• Mild spices like cinnamon and vanilla final
• Mild greenness to it

Wet leaf:

• Uncurled buds, some bud and 1 leaf duos
• Creamy medium yellow-green colour
• Chocolatey, cinnamon, asparagus, green, and mild spices smell

 I like yellow teas very much. If you like white teas and don't mind that they are so delicate this could be for you. Let me just make one thing clear: some say white teas lack flavour, and it can be true depending on the quality of white teas you've had... I had the chance to compare different qualities of the same tea; lower-end white teas do lack flavours. However, it is something that is less likely to happen (in my opinion) with yellow teas as they are already hard to get. Small farms will produce them and the yield is usually pretty small. So what I think is that very little tea selling shops will go to the trouble of sourcing them if they aren't of good quality as they tend to be rather pricy, both for the tea shop owner and the customer... but so worth it! I once had a yellow tea (not this one) that tasted different every time I had it (in a zhong). Once it even tasted like gingerbread and I fell in love with it. Maybe I will review it someday, but that one is very pricy as well so you'll all have to be patient!

I would say that compared to white teas, yellow teas are a bit stronger in taste, and may offer a broader palette of flavours and aromas, but are as delicate.

Happy tasting and may you end up with amazing discoveries...