2016 Yellow Tea Leaves (黄片) from Nannuo Mountain

The color of the early morning sunlight on a sleepy summer day, at least for the first infusion, these yellow tea leaves are older, often larger leaves that still make for a readily drinkable tea. Due to their less desirable appearance—the comparison to Cinderella's step sisters but with a much milder temperament is fair, I think—yellow tea leaves command a lower market price (although can still be a touch exorbitant from a region like Laobanzhang). They come from the same centuries-old arbor trees that other ancient puer is picked from, but because of optics, they are separated from the other leaves after drying and before pressing.

Older leaves have their own charm . Sweet and mild, where they lack in floral qualities they make up for in a fruitiness and drinkability. So often, there is a bitterness in the young raw pure teas, but with yellow tea leaves a longer steeping time won't bring out the bitterness or astringency that it would in a similarly young puer absent of them.

I would highlight too, the remarkably vegetal aftertaste that lingered in my mouth that brought forth the freshness of the bright Spring day when it was plucked. An under-the-radar and thus, very affordable choice that tea makers themselves enjoy.