Lincang

This 2012 raw Pu-erh cake from Mengku Rongshi offers a journey into the evolving character of aged tea. Expect vibrant notes of wild forests and a subtle, clean bitterness that mellows into a long, sa. It leans earthy, woody and grassy.

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 2012 harvest.

Starts at $3.99 from King Tea Mall, or about $0.25/g. A 7g package gets you around 1 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $1.50 per session. Explore more dark teas on Teadar.