help me identify this green tea - black needle-like

i can't find anything to tell me what this tea is. it was bought for me from china (loose) as a gift and all the info i have is "it's very expensive". appearance is very unusual: the tea looks like very tightly rolled black joints - very long, sharp, twisted. you could poke someone with the ends of each stick. On brewing, the leaves unfurl slowly and give off the same kind of "air bubbles" the way silver needles do, and you see that they are *green* not black. the leaves are long, almost like plant leaves. here is the interesting part, if you leave the leaves in, the taste turns bitter after about

10 minutes. this is with ONE stick, so i'm not using too large a portion. one stick unfurls into about 2 long leaves. the unfurled leaves are flat and kind of yellow-green. the taste is a mild, tea colour is pale to mid yellow/light-brown.

this isn't silver needle, the length of the needles are very long, about the length of my index finger. the smell of the leaves in the bag is actually almost smoky. but the taste is closer to silver needle/green tea. i found something called "black needle" on the internet,and the description matches somewhat, but i wouldn't say the appearance of the tea i have matches the pictures i've seen.

i need to know what this is because i'm curious, but also because i want to know if i'm brewing it right. also because if it's so expensive (conversion is about USD $18 for 50g) then i really should know what i'm drinking.

Reply to
fern_tay
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Could this be the tea? : 'High Mountain Kuding Yen Cha' picture at

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Reply to
Elona

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It's Kuding Cha. Although, it shouldn't be so expensive.

Reply to
Mydnight

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yes exactly! that is it. thank you very much. this is helpful - now atleast i can adjust the brewing (and i know i'm lowering my cholesterol and losing weight). power of the internet... love it.

Reply to
fern_tay

Everything fits except for the mild agreeable taste. There is no Ku in your Ding.

Jim

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Reply to
Space Cowboy

the ku came after awhile - if i left the leaf in for about 10 minutes it was ku all right. my water wasn't hot enough. the difference was i thought i had put in too many ding and made it bitter because i didn't know it was supposed to be that way. i've done a few beis since and it's v. like bittergourd. actually i don'tmuch like it :)

Reply to
fern_tay

We're a family publication here at RFDT, so I wonder if someone whose Chinese is better than mine can say whether this was a ribald remark.

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

I'm lost.

Phyll

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Reply to
Phyll

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