Can someone help me on these Chinese tea gifts please?

[Haggises]

The second one on the list, simple and elegant, opened for the first time today.
Very fresh looking green leaves, minimal processing by the looks of it. Any ideas?
Smells almost like walnuts, tastes nothing like walnuts. Slightly bitter after a 30 second steep but subsequent brews get mellower.

 

[Haggises]

Got a big package from Teavivre.
Ripened aged pu-erh min tuocha - aged, rose,chrysanthemum.
2006 Fengqing raw tuocha
Guang Dong Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong
Sample of gunpowder, sample of jasmine.

Should keep me going for a while.

First up was the aged mini Tuocha from 2007. Much more flavorful and colorful than those oranges. Quite woody, leathery, peaty. Reminds me of a single malt at times. Like.

 

[Haggises]

Second Teavivre package.
Had really enjoyed the ripened mini tuocha from the first batch, the raw puerh not so much.
Here I have 2006 ripened mini bricks, a 2006 ripe cake and some dragon pearls. The latter came as a sample last time and liked it so much I went with a bigger package.

 

[iam7head]

My old boss is a major Chinese tea drinker, it's a mix of science and art to pour a proper cup of tea. Certain tea require washing/pre-rinse to get the left ready, much like how we treat the badger brush. Temp of water, the pour and how much time you keep it under cover makes a huge difference. Reminds me of my significant other doing hand grind and hand pour coffee. Both Pu-Er and Chinese coffee beans are from the province of Yunan, There's about half dozen of mountain/zones that produce different flavor of Pu-Er, all within a the providence *Cough Kentucky Bourbon whiskey cough*. I purchased a bag of Yenan beans from Starbuck roastery in Shanghai for the wife, haven't try it out yet but it's super expensive, almost twice the price of what we usually pay for for a fresh >one month one beans.

As for Pu-Er, if you are a cigar lover, next time try it with a cigar. There's pretty much the only time I drink full strength Pu-Er, it's dark and strong at first sip but a super smooth/soothing after taste which counter balance with certain cigar.

Some people would prefer a half or 3/4 strength Pu-Er over meal so it's not overpowering the taste bud. Likewise, the Cantonese(southern Chinese) would mix the lighter tasting/fresher tasting chrysanthemum tea to the Pu-Er for the same reason, it's widely available for most proper dim-sum place(which is originate from Guangdong or Canton).

 

[iam7head]

The second one on the list, simple and elegant, opened for the first time today.
Very fresh looking green leaves, minimal processing by the looks of it. Any ideas?
Smells almost like walnuts, tastes nothing like walnuts. Slightly bitter after a 30 second steep but subsequent brews get mellower.

Cant confirm but it looks a lot like Longjing aka dragon well tea from Hangzhou. It's a lightly pan roasted tea from the region, we visited a plantation there a few years back when we took a trip up to west lake. The best Longjing to have is the early badge which is harvested before Qing-ming festive, something to do with the rain season and humidity for the later badge which affected the taste.

It's a green tea with a raw grassy tea, goes in quite fresh and nicely but I don't enjoy the grassy note too much personally. Because of the minimal roasting and processing process, most of the caffeine content is still intact, it's one of the highest caffeinated Chinese tea out there.

 

[Haggises]

Cant confirm but it looks a lot like Longjing aka dragon well tea from Hangzhou. It's a lightly pan roasted tea from the region, we visited a plantation there a few years back when we took a trip up to west lake. The best Longjing to have is the early badge which is harvested before Qing-ming festive, something to do with the rain season and humidity for the later badge which affected the taste.

It's a green tea with a raw grassy tea, goes in quite fresh and nicely but I don't enjoy the grassy note too much personally. Because of the minimal roasting and processing process, most of the caffeine content is still intact, it's one of the highest caffeinated Chinese tea out there.

By George I think you have it.
Grass is also the flavor I was thinking of, hit me as soon as I read your words.
Thank you!

 

[iam7head]

Haha, no offense by my poor choice of word but for most novice tea drinker (like myself), it's the first word to come in mind.

I am going to start calling it "Goût Verte" from now on to make it more sexy sounding like "vanilla, Leathery and smoky"

 

[Haggises]

Haha, no offense by my poor choice of word but for most novice tea drinker (like myself), it's the first word to come in mind.

I am going to start calling it "Goût Verte" from now on to make it more sexy sounding like "vanilla, Leathery and smoky"

No, "grassy" was right on the money.

Had a mini brick of 2006 ripened yesterday - wonderful and dark.