Spring Dark

This 2012 Hai Lang Hao 'Long Bing Er Hao' Sheng Pu-erh, crafted from ancient arbor tea leaves from Yi Wu, showcases the classic evolution of aged raw pu-erh. Expect a nuanced profile with emerging swe.

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 2012 harvest.

Starts at $8.00 from Yunnan Sourcing, or about $0.80/g. A 10g package gets you around 2 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $4.80 per session. Compare dark prices across vendors on Teadar.