Banzhang

This 2004 Banzhang raw Pu-erh offers a captivating journey of aged complexity. Expect initial notes of deep forest and damp earth, evolving into a sweet, lingering aftertaste with hints of dried fruit. It leans earthy, woody and complex.

Water around 95–100 °C (203–212 °F). In a mug, steep 3–5 min. For gongfu, use 5–7 g per 100 ml, 10–20 s steeps (10–20+ rounds). You'll get to see how the flavor changes across multiple rounds. Rinse the leaves once with boiling water before your first real steep. It cleans off storage dust and gets the flavor going.

Grown in Yunnan, China. This batch is from the 2004 harvest.

Starts at $39.99 from King Tea Mall, or about $3.36/g. A 7g package gets you around 1 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $20.16 per session. Explore more dark teas on Teadar.