Spring Ailao

This raw Pu-erh from Ai Lao Mountain offers a prominent mouthfeel and a delicate orchid aroma. Subtle with minimal bitterness, it unveils notes of honey and fresh grass, leading to a thick, satisfying. It leans orchid, honey and grassy.

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 Da Ye Zhong cultivar. This batch is from the Spring 2012 harvest.

Starts at $14.75 from Yunnan Sourcing, or about $0.36/g. A 25g package gets you around 4 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $2.16 per session. Compare dark prices across vendors on Teadar.