Spring Banzhang

This aged Pu-erh presents a beautifully complex profile, unfolding with deep woody notes and a characteristic smooth sweetness. A gentle bitterness on the palate leads into a remarkably long-lasting a. It leans woody, sweet and pungent.

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 Spring 2004 harvest.

Starts at $15.50 from Yunnan Sourcing, or about $0.49/g. A 25g package gets you around 4 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $2.94 per session. Compare dark prices across vendors on Teadar.