Mengsong

This 2017 raw Pu-erh from Naka offers a vibrant initial character with notes of young stone fruit and a fresh, leafy minerality. As it opens, expect a developing complexity with a hint of forest floor. It leans earthy, fruity and mineral.

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 2017 harvest.

Starts at $29.99 from King Tea Mall, or about $0.36/g. A 30g package gets you around 5 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $2.16 per session. Explore more dark teas on Teadar.