Lincang

This young raw Pu-erh offers a potent and lively character, showcasing the vibrant energy of Mengku's ancient trees. Expect a strong initial astringency that mellows into a mineral sweetness, with a l. It leans bold, mineral and astringent.

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 $0.14/g. A 7g package gets you around 1 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $0.84 per session. Explore more dark teas on Teadar.