Ailao

This raw Pu-erh cake, harvested from Wuliang Mountain in 2010, offers a deep, evolving character. Expect a robust earthy foundation with hints of old wood and subtle sweetness, developing complexity w. It leans earthy, woody and sweet.

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 2010 harvest.

Starts at $2.99 from King Tea Mall, or about $0.11/g. A 7g package gets you around 1 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $0.66 per session. Explore more dark teas on Teadar.