Hey! I did HSK 1 just over a year ago. It's not a hard exam. You don't need to write any characters - just recognise some of the most common words and phrases, including simple sentences. There is a listening section and a reading section. You can download some sample papers from this website: https://www.confuciusinstitute.manchester.ac.uk/study/testing/hsk/hsk-learning-resources/ (they also have answers!). 加油!

"Teas of superior flavor and character" is right. In this kind of structure (noun 1 + of + noun 2), noun 1 is the main one, and noun 2 describes it. So the process produces teas - and those teas have a superior flavor and character. Compare these examples: He was a man of virtue. She was a girl of many talents. He's very clever for a boy of his age. We focus on these words: man, girl, boy. The other phrases are used for description. The version you proposed ("superior flavor and character of teas") is also a correct one, but there is a slight difference in meaning: here it means the process just produces the flavor/character, but the tea was already there. The sentence from the text ("produces teas of superior flavor and character") suggests that the process produces a new kind of tea - and this new kind has superior flavor and character. It's a nuance, really.

It means something like "you are unlucky, but hey, that's life". Compare these two conversations: (1) A: I lost the game. B: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. (=very sympathetic) (2) A: I lost the game B: Tough luck! (=oh well, you can't always win)

I'd say they're pretty similar, but "laudable" is very formal and so used less frequently.

This "over" is similar to "over there". The two speakers are probably a bit far from it, like maybe they're both at home, but they both know that 3rd Ave is in the centre. The meaning is pretty similar to "It's on Third Avenue", but "It's over on..." sounds more informal.