人们从炒青绿茶中发现，杀青揉捻后干燥不足或不及时，叶色即变黄，于是产生了新的品类——黄茶。黄茶属发酵茶类，黄茶的制作与绿茶有相似之处，不同点是多一道闷堆工序。这个闷堆过程是黄茶制法的主要特点，也是它同绿茶的基本区别。黄茶的品质特点是“黄叶黄汤”。
By observing the stir fixation of green tea, people found out that the tea will turn yellow after fixation and rolling if the drying process is not sufficient or in time, thus a new type of tea is created, the Yellow Tea. As a kind of fermented tea, the producing process of yellow tea is similar to that of green tea. The difference is that yellow tea has an extra process of piling the tea for yellowing. This process is the main character of producing Yellow Tea and also the basic difference between yellow tea and green tea. ”Yellow tea leaves and yellow tea soup” are the features of yellow tea.
黄茶有芽茶与叶茶之分，对新梢芽叶有不同要求：除黄大茶要求有1芽4、5叶新梢外，其余的黄茶都有对芽叶要求“细嫩、新鲜、匀齐、纯净”的共同点。按鲜叶的嫩度和芽叶大小，分为黄芽茶、黄小茶和黄大茶三类。
Yellow tea is divided into young tea leaves and tea leaves. There are different requirements for new tea leaves, except for Yellow Big Tea (yellow tea with big leaves) which should have one sprout together with 4-5 new sprouts. Other types of Yellow Tea are all required to be”fine and tender, new and fresh, even and tidy, and pure and clean.”According to the tenderness and sizes of the fresh tea leaves, Yellow Tea is divided into Yellow Sprout Tea, Yellow Small Tea and Yellow Big Tea.
黄大茶：著名的品种有安徽的霍山黄大茶、广东的大叶青等。
黄小茶：著名的品种有湖南宁乡的沩山毛尖、湖南岳阳的北港毛尖、湖北的远安鹿苑、浙江的平阳黄汤等
Yellow Big Tea: Famous types of Yellow Big Tea include Yellow Big Tea from Huoshan and Dayeqing Tea (tea in big black leaves) from Guangdong, etc.
Yellow Small Tea: Famous types of Yellow Small Tea include Weishan Sprout Tea from Ningxiang and Beigang Sprout Tea from Yueyang, Hunan Province, Luyuan Tea from Yuan’an, Hubei Province and Huangtang Tea from Pingyang, Zhejiang Province.
黄芽茶：著名的品种有湖南岳阳的君山银针、四川名山的蒙顶黄芽、安徽霍山的霍山黄芽、浙江德清的莫干黄芽等。
Yellow Sprout Tea: Famous types of Yellow Sprout Tea include Junshan Silver Needle Tea from Yueyang, Hunan Province, Mengding Yellow Sprout Tea from Mingsha, Sichuan Province, Huoshan Yellow Sprout Tea from Huoshan, Anhui Province and Mogan Yellow Sprout Tea from Deqing, Zhejiang Province.
黄茶名品介绍
黄芽茶之极品是湖南洞庭君山银针。其成品茶，外形茁壮挺直，重实匀齐，银毫披露，芽身金黄光亮，内质毫香鲜嫩，汤色杏黄明净，滋味甘醇鲜爽。在国际和国内市场上都久负盛名。
Introductions to famous Yellow Tea types
The best type of Yellow Sprout Tea is Junshan Golden Needle Tea from Dongting, Hunan Province. In appearance, finished tea products of this kind is strong and straight, heavy and tidy; its silver-like leaves are obvious; the tea sprouts are golden and shining, fragrant and tender. Its tea water is apricot-yellow, clear and bright and it has a sweet and pure taste. It has enjoyed a good reputation both in international and domestic markets for a long time.
霍山茶。安徽霍山黄芽亦属黄芽茶的珍品。霍山茶的生产历史悠久，从唐代起即有生产，明清时即为宫廷贡品。霍山黄大茶，其中又以霍山大化坪金鸡山的金刚台所产的黄大茶最为名贵，干茶色泽自然，呈金黄，香高、味浓、耐泡。
Huoshan Tea: Huoshan Yellow Sprout Tea,from Anhui Province is very rare. Huoshan Tea has a long producing history, which began in Tang Dynasty. And in Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was taken as a tribute to emperor. Among Huoshan Yellow Big Teas, the tea produced in Jingangtai, Jinjishan, Dahuaping, Huoshan is themost famous one. This kind of Yellow Sprout Tea has natural golden color, good scent, strong taste and it is soak-resisting.
北港毛尖茶。岳阳自古以来为游览胜地。其产北港茶在唐代就很有名气。北港发源于梅溪，全长2公里余，因位于南港之北而得名。岳阳市康王乡北港湖一带，是现今的北港毛尖产地。北港毛尖一般在清明后5-6天开采，鲜叶标准为一芽二、三叶。
Beigang Sprout Tea: Yueyang has been a tourist resort since ancient times.Beigang Sprout Tea produced here became famous during Tang Dynasty. Beigang River, which originates from Meixi River and has afull length of over three kilometers, got its name from its location which is north of Nangang. The areas around Beigang Lake of Kangwangxiang, Yueyang City is the current producing place of Beigang Sprout Tea, which is usually picked 5-6 days after the Tomb Sweeping Festival. The standard for picking up the fresh tealeaves is a sprout that has2-3 leaves.
海马宫茶。海马宫茶产于贵州省大方县的老鹰岩脚下的海马宫乡。谷雨前后开采。采摘标准；一级茶为一芽一叶初展；二级茶为一芽二叶，三级茶为一芽三叶。具有条索紧结卷曲，茸毛显露，青高味醇，回味甘甜，汤色黄绿明亮，叶底嫩黄匀整明亮的特点。
Haimagong Tea: Haimagong Tea is produced in Haimagong Town, which is located at the foot of Old Eagle Rock in Dafang County,Guizhou Province. This kind of tea is usually picked before and after Grain Rain Festival.The standards for picking the teas are: first-grade tea is newly grown and the sprout has only one leaf. Second-grade tea is one sprout with two leaves and third grade tea is one sprout with three leaves. The tea sprouts are tightly curled with its fine fuzz clearly seen. The tea is green, tastes pure and has a sweet after taste. The tea water is bright yellow and green. The bottom of the tealeaf is bright yellow and even.
蒙顶黄芽。产于四川省名山县蒙山。蒙山产茶的历史十分悠久，蒙顶茶自唐至明清，都是有名的贡茶。现在仍有不少茶馆.茶庄悬挂“扬子江中水，蒙顶山上茶”的对联，可见蒙顶茶影响之深远。每年春分时节开始采制蒙顶黄茶，选择肥壮的芽头一芽一叶初展，经杀青、处包、复炒等八道工序制成。
Mengding Yellow Tea: Mengding Yellow Tea is produced in Mengshan, Mingshan County, Sichuan Province, wher the history of tea producing is very long. From Tang Dynasty to Ming and Qing Dynasties, Mengding Yellow Sprout Tea had been taken as a famous tribute. At present, there are still many tea houses that hang these couplets “The water from Yangzi River ranks as the first among all waters, while the tea produced on top of Mengding Mountain is chosen to be the best among all teas” which shows the far-reaching influence of Mengding Tea. Every year, from Spring Equinox, people begin to pick and produce Mengding Yellow Tea. Mengding Yellow Tea is produced through eight different processes from choosing the newly grown sprout with one leaf, drying, packing to refrying.