zhōng huáng yī hào

Zhonghuang No.1 (中黄一号, Zhōnghuáng Yīhào) is both a modern tea cultivar with golden-yellow leaves and a yellow tea (黄茶, huángchá) produced from it in Zhejiang Province (浙江, Zhèjiāng). The cultivar’s birthplace is considered to be Tiantai County (天台县, Tiāntái Xiàn) in the prefecture-level city of Taizhou — an area with a centuries-old history of mountain tea and Buddhist culture. The cultivar’s main feature is that the golden colour of the leaf is embedded in its genetics: the bush contains a reduced amount of chlorophyll and a very high proportion of free amino acids, which gives the infusion a soft, fresh taste almost devoid of bitterness. Unlike classic yellow teas, where colour is imparted by technological “yellowing”, here the raw material is already yellow. Today, Zhonghuang No.1 holds a prominent place among China’s “light-coloured” cultivars and serves as the raw material base for the brand “Tiantai Yellow Tea” (天台黄茶, Tiāntái Huángchá).

1. Classification and Origin:

Type: yellow tea (黄茶, huángchá), one of the six classic categories of Chinese tea.
Bush variety (cultivar): Zhonghuang No.1 (中黄一号, Zhōnghuáng Yīhào) — a light-coloured golden-yellow cultivar.
Cultivar origin: Tiantai County (天台县, Tiāntái Xiàn), Taizhou prefecture-level city (台州, Tāizhōu), Zhejiang Province (浙江, Zhèjiāng).
Raw material category: bud-and-leaf type; the product listing indicates a broken format — “duan ya ye” (断芽叶, duàn yá yè), meaning crushed buds with leaf.
Style/Brand: Tiantai Yellow Tea (天台黄茶, Tiāntái Huángchá).

The national standard for yellow tea (GB/T 21726) divides this category into bud type (芽型, yá xíng), bud-and-leaf type (芽叶型, yá yè xíng), and multi-leaf type (多叶型, duō yè xíng). The tea in question belongs to the bud-and-leaf type, but in a broken (“断”) execution: such raw material releases flavour into the infusion more quickly and is usually cheaper than whole-leaf material. It is important to understand the duality of the name: “中黄一号” is both the cultivar name and the designation of the finished tea, so the same cultivar appears on the market as both a green and a yellow tea.

2. History and Cultural Significance:

Emergence of the cultivar: selection from a natural yellow-leaf mutation discovered in the Tiantai Mountains.
Selection and stabilisation: the cultivar was isolated and stabilised during breeding work in the 2000s–2010s and registered as an improved cultivar; the prefix “中” indicates the involvement of specialised scientific institutions.
Cultural background: Mount Tiantai (天台山, Tiāntái Shān), Guoqing Temple (国清寺, Guóqīngsì), the Tiantai school of Buddhism (天台宗, Tiāntái Zōng).

Mount Tiantai is one of the ancient centres of tea culture in East China; it is associated with the traditional tale that the Japanese monk Saichō (最澄, 767–822), who studied in local monasteries, brought tea seeds back to his homeland, marking the beginning of tea’s spread in Japan. Against this ancient backdrop, Zhonghuang No.1 is a very recent phenomenon: it represents a product of modern “coloured” cultivar breeding and serves as an example of how the small-volume yellow tea category acquires a new, recognisable regional brand.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material:

Botanical affiliation: Camellia sinensis var. sinensis — bush type, small- to medium-leaf.
Character of light-colouring: belongs to light-coloured (yellow-leaf) cultivars; the golden colouration is linked to reduced chlorophyll content and is usually enhanced under sufficient light (a type close to light-sensitive — 光照敏感型, guāngzhào mǐngǎn xíng).
Leaf: naturally yellow-golden, brighter on young flushes.
Biochemical profile of raw material: high proportion of amino acids and moderate polyphenol content.
Raw material for this tea: crushed buds with leaf (断芽叶, duàn yá yè).

From temperature-sensitive white-leaf cultivars like Baiye No.1 (白叶一号, Báiyè Yīhào, the basis of Anji white tea), which pale only in the early cool spring, Zhonghuang No.1 differs in that it retains its golden hue throughout a longer part of the season and in this respect is closer to yellow-golden cultivars like Huangjinya (黄金芽, Huángjīnyá). Reduced chlorophyll means less efficient photosynthesis, so such bushes are generally less productive and require more careful agronomy.

4. Terroir and Growing Characteristics:

Main region: Tiantai County, as well as a number of other areas in Zhejiang where the cultivar is actively planted.
Approximate coordinates of Tiantai: around 29° N, 121° E.
Altitudes: foothills and slopes; tea gardens are usually located in a range of roughly 200 to 800 m.
Climate: subtropical monsoon — warm, humid summers, mild winters, frequent fog.
Soils: acidic, well-drained, loamy and gravelly.
Historical area: the Huading massif (华顶, Huádǐng), the main peak of the Tiantai Mountains (around 1100 m), long known for the green tea “Huading Yunwu” (华顶云雾, Huádǐng Yúnwù, “clouds and mist of Huading”).

The cool, humid mountain microclimate with frequent fog slows shoot growth and promotes the accumulation of amino acids, which is particularly valuable for a light-coloured cultivar. At the same time, the bush needs sufficient light to display its characteristic golden colour, so the choice of slope exposure and planting density affects both leaf colour and the biochemistry of the raw material.

5. Production Technology:

Processing type: yellow tea technology with the key step of “yellowing” (闷黄, mènhuáng).
Plucking: tender buds and buds with one or two leaves; for this product, crushed bud-and-leaf raw material is used.

The sequence of operations in general is as follows:

Withering/Spreading (摊放, tānfàng): the raw material is spread in a thin layer, reducing moisture content and “calming” the leaf.
Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): heating to inactivate enzymes, halting oxidation.
Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn): shaping the leaf and partially disrupting cells; at this stage, bud-and-leaf raw material is often crushed as well.
Yellowing (闷黄, mènhuáng): the key and defining stage for yellow tea — the warm and moist leaf is piled and covered, where non-enzymatic transformations occur under the influence of heat and residual moisture. This softens polyphenols, removes “green” sharpness, and makes the taste more rounded and sweetish.
Drying (干燥, gānzào): bringing to a dry state and setting the aroma.

Since the leaf of Zhonghuang No.1 is already yellow by nature, the role of yellowing here shifts from “colouring” to flavour development, so masters often carry it out gently and briefly. It is precisely the yellowing stage that distinguishes yellow tea from this cultivar from green tea made from the same bush: without 闷黄 one obtains a green tea, with it — a yellow tea.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics:

Dry leaf: crushed buds with leaf of a golden-yellow tone, often with interspersed lighter tips.
Infusion: transparent, from light yellow to golden.
Aroma: fresh, with notes of boiled corn, fresh herbs, and a light “warm” tone imparted by yellowing.
Taste: fresh and sweetish, with pronounced “umami” fullness, low bitterness and astringency; a returning sweetness (回甘, huígān) is felt.
Spent leaf: tender, evenly coloured golden-yellow fragments.

The broken format makes the infusion more saturated and fast-extracting, but less rich in taste “layers” than whole buds; the aromatic profile nevertheless remains recognisably fresh and soft.

7. Chemical Composition:

Amino acids (氨基酸, ānjīsuān): very high; according to available data, total content can exceed 6%, and in spring flushes reach noticeably higher values — several times higher than in ordinary green-tea cultivars (around 3–4%).
Polyphenols (茶多酚, chá duōfēn): moderate, tentatively in the range of about 13–20%.
Polyphenol-to-amino-acid ratio (酚氨比, fēn’ān bǐ): low, which is directly linked to the fresh, non-aggressive taste.
Caffeine: usually in the range of roughly 2–4%.
L-theanine: forms part of the amino acid pool and contributes to the softness and “umami”.

The values given are approximate and depend on the harvest season, bud proportion, agronomy, and processing details; for precise figures one should always rely on laboratory data for the specific batch.

8. Health Benefits:

Antioxidants: polyphenols and catechins possess antioxidant activity.
L-theanine: promotes a state of calm alertness, softening the effect of caffeine.
Gentleness on the stomach: thanks to yellowing, yellow tea is often tolerated more comfortably than fresh green tea.
Toning: moderate caffeine content provides a light invigorating effect.

Tea is not a medicinal product and does not replace medical care. The beverage contains caffeine, so people sensitive to it, as well as pregnant and nursing women, should exercise moderation.

9. Brewing:

Vessels: gaiwan (盖碗), glass cup or teapot (allows one to admire the golden leaf), porcelain.
Ratio: about 3–4 g per 150 ml; for “simple” drinking from a glass, 2–3 g is sufficient.
Water: soft, temperature around 80–90 °C.
Infusions: first infusion short (10–20 s), then gradually increase the time; sustains approximately 3–5 infusions.

Bear in mind that broken raw material releases flavour faster than whole leaf, so it is better to keep the temperature closer to 85 °C and make infusions shorter to avoid excessive density and bitterness. For brewing in a glass, pour water over the leaf, let it sink, and top up as the water level decreases without pouring it off completely.

10. Storage:

Conditions: cool, dark, dry place, airtight packaging free of foreign odours.
Refrigerator: permissible with secure sealing; after removal, let the package warm to room temperature before opening to avoid condensation.
Shelf life: as a tea close in spirit to green tea, it best unfolds within approximately 12–18 months.

Zhonghuang No.1 is not a tea intended for long-term ageing: over time it loses freshness of aroma and brightness of taste, so it is more sensible to drink it young.

11. Price and Counterfeits:

Price segment: the broken bud-and-leaf format (断芽叶) is one of the most accessible versions of Zhonghuang No.1 and lies in the lower and middle price range.
More expensive: whole spring buds and neat bud-and-leaf picking of the same cultivar cost noticeably more.

Specific prices depend heavily on the season, region, bud proportion, and producer reputation, so indicating exact sums is not appropriate; one should orient oneself by the relative ratio of grades. Typical risks and substitutions:

Green instead of yellow: tea from the same bush but without the yellowing step is sold under the guise of yellow tea — the taste betrays a “green” herbaceousness and an absence of soft roundness.
Substitution with another cultivar: other golden cultivars, such as Huangjinya (黄金芽, Huángjīnyá), are used instead of Zhonghuang No.1.
Adulteration and colouring: addition of ordinary green raw material, more rarely artificial colouring.
False geography: attributing Tiantai origin to the tea without basis.

How to distinguish: genuine yellow Zhonghuang No.1 has an even golden colour of the dry leaf and spent leaf, a soft sweetish taste without harsh astringency, and the characteristic “warm” note of yellowing. Sharp “greenness”, grey-green fragments, or unnaturally bright colouration are grounds for doubt. It is important to remember that the broken grade is legitimately cheaper than the whole-leaf grade, and one should not overpay for it as if it were premium buds.

12. Interesting Facts:

Meaning of the name: “中黄一号” literally “Chinese Yellow No.1” — “中” refers to the involvement of specialised scientific institutes, “黄” indicates the yellow leaf, “一号” is the cultivar’s serial number.
“Sibling” cultivar: there exists Zhonghuang No.2 (中黄二号, Zhōnghuáng Èrhào), which is firmly associated with Jinyun County (缙云县, Jìnyún Xiàn) in Zhejiang and the brand “Jinyun Yellow Tea” (缙云黄茶, Jìnyún Huángchá).
Colour by nature, not processing: a rare case where the “yellow” colour of the tea is largely ensured by the bush’s genetics, not just by yellowing.
The cultivar’s double life: the same leaf is often processed into green tea, making it easy to confuse green and yellow versions on the market.
The historical axis of Tiantai: a modern cultivar arose in a locality that tradition links to the early spread of tea to Japan through monks who studied on Mount Tiantai.

In conclusion:

Zhonghuang No.1 is a telling example of how Chinese tea tradition combines ancient roots and modern breeding. On the one hand, behind it stands Mount Tiantai with its Buddhist monasteries and an ancient culture of mountain tea; on the other, it is a relatively new light-coloured cultivar whose golden colouration and high amino acid content make it a recognisable and technologically convenient raw material for a soft, fresh yellow tea.

The broken bud-and-leaf format (浙江中黄一号断芽叶黄茶) is a practical, accessible version of the cultivar: it falls short of whole spring buds in subtlety and multi-layeredness, but honestly conveys the main qualities of Zhonghuang No.1 — a golden infusion, low bitterness, and sweetish “umami” fullness. For an introduction to a modern yellow tea made from a light-coloured cultivar, this is a sensible starting point, and understanding the difference between yellow and green processing of the same leaf helps one avoid overpaying and choose the beverage consciously.

the teas described here are available from teamotea