I really just got these for everyday drinking at the office and whatnot. These are small raw green (sheng) touochas. I did a quick rinse and did my first steep at 60 seconds and the second at 2 minutes, both with around 180 F water.
These are nice and inexpensive – I got a whole bag for $6.50 which has 20 or so pieces in it (I did not count). The flavor is mellow, earthy and malty. With the shorter steep I was picking up some apple flavors but with the longer steep I got some slightly bitter flavors. They claim these are aged but I don’t know for how long, they still seem kinda young. They are of good quality as you can see the long leaves unfurl with only a bit of broken leaves. Amazing how they were able to compress all that in a little cake.
I liked this, good for every day, not as astringent and sour as some sheng tou chas I’ve had but certainly nothing as complex as their loose leaf sheng pu-erhs.
