Spring Lincang

This 2011 Raw Pu-erh cake from Nan Po Zhai offers a remarkably powerful and textured infusion. Expect deep, earthy undertones, evolving into a mineral-rich complexity with a satisfying, lingering fini. It leans earthy, woody 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 from the Gushu cultivar. This batch is from the Spring 2011 harvest.

Starts at $16.00 from Yunnan Sourcing, or about $1.07/g. A 10g package gets you around 2 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $6.42 per session. Compare dark prices across vendors on Teadar.