Product Overview
Type: Yellow
Origin: China
Description: Huang Da Cha is a yellow tea maily produced in produced in Huoshan, Jinzai and Lu'an of Anhui province. Huang Da Cha means "big yellow tea " and is characterised by its long and big leaves. For this tea are usually one bud and three or four leaves picked.
Yellow tea can be classified into Huang Ya Cha, Huang Xiao Cha and Huang Da Cha according to the size of its fresh leaves. Huang Da Cha was firstly produced in the Longqing period of the Ming Dynasty, which has a history of more than 400 years and is also a peak period of yellow tea production development. The appearance of Huang Da Cha is a strong evidence for the evolution of Yellow Tea from aristocratic tea to civilian tea. At that time, Huo Shan Huang Ya is very expensive for ordinary people to drink due to its extremely complicated production process; while the Huang Da Cha adopts a relatively simple production method and can be mass-produced which is more acceptable for ordinary people.
The manufacture of yellow tea is a process that is very similar to that of green tea (withering followed by steaming or pan-frying to prevent oxidation) with one additional stage. After pan-frying the tea leaves are gently heated (normally under a damp cloth or wrapped in paper) allowing them to oxidise very slightly through a process of non-enzymic fermentation. This step is repeated as many times as necessary to achieve the desired appearance and aroma. After this step Huo Shan Huang Da Cha undergoes additional heavy roasting, which is unique to this tea and sets it apart from other yellow teas, such as the Huo Shan Huang Ya.
Huang Da Cha Yellow Tea is one of the famous teas in Anhui Province. The plucking standard of this yellow tea is one bud with two or three leaves, characterized by brownish yellow leaves that mixed with leaf stalks. The production process of Huang Da Cha is strictly in accordance with the production process of yellow tea. But different from ordinary yellow tea, like Huo Shan Huang Ya, this Huang Da Cha has been heavily roasted, which give this tea a rich fried fragrance, in China, we call it “rice crust aroma”. This fragrance often reminds people of coffee, so the tea also been called “coffee of tea”.
Grown in Huo Shan County of Anhui Province, this tea is also known as ‘Mount Huo Big Yellow’ to follow the literal translation of the Chinese name. The large leaves of this tea are harvested from the bushes that are also used to make Huo Shan Huang Ya yellow tea. The harvest time is in the middle of April. This particular crop is form the spring harvest and this tea definitely improves with age, mellowing out with time.
As the name suggests, this Huo Shan Huang Da Cha yellow tea has very large leaves that are also mixed with some of the stems from the tea plant. Much like the Japanese Kukicha, the stems impart this tea with extra sweetness due to naturally occurring sugars that are present in higher concentration in the stems.
This rare and unusual yellow tea undergoes complex processing resulting in a liquor that is very smooth with a roasted taste. The flavour profile is most similar to brandy or roasted coffee. This tea delivers a brisk and refreshing yellow tea experience with a delicious after sweet reminiscent of strawberries.
Brewing Guide: Huo Shan Huang Da Cha is best brewed with water at 90°C for 4-5 minutes and can be brewed multiple times.
