Huo Shan Huang Ya 霍山黃芽

Huang Ya means yellow bud and refers to the yellow hue of both the fresh and the finished tea leaves. Our Huang Ya is an heirloom varietal from the prized region of Huo Shan. Huang Ya is known for its notes of sweet nuts, and umaminess.

Our Huang Ya is made in Jin Ji Shan, by an incredible female tea maker. Xu A-yi is the matriarch of the family who makes some of our Huang Ya. She’s especially skilled at Zhuang Huo/La Huo, a very difficult flash-roasting process during the refining part of Huang Ya.

Yellow tea is a micro-fermented tea. It has a profile similar to green tea, but is little rounder, smoother with a warmer mouthfeel.

Tea Drunk’s Huang Ya is “yellowed” 3 to 7 times for a total of 160-260 hours. To finish fining the tea, it is put on a bamboo tray to be flashed roasted over charcoal for an hour. This technique, Zhuang Huo, is unique and ancient to the region. Zhuang Huo is a precarious step because the tea leaves are already dry, but it is essential for producing the most excellent tea. It repels any last bit of impurity and solidifies all the notes with an enhanced aroma.