Spring Ailao

This dark from Yunnan, China offers a distinctive drinking experience. This raw Pu-erh from Ai Lao Mountain offers a captivating orchid aroma, hinting at its high-altitude origins. It presents a strong, thick mouthfeel with notes of honey and fresh grass, showcasing a su. It sits in the "Orchid" and "Honey" and "Grassy" flavor families, so expect a cup that leans orchid and honey and grassy.

Aim for water around 95–100 °C (203–212 °F). Western style: steep for 3–5 minutes in a mug or teapot. Gongfu style: use 5–7 g per 100 ml, 10–20 s steeps (10–20+ infusions) for multiple short steeps — this way you can taste how the flavor evolves. Give the leaves a quick rinse with boiling water before your first real steep — it wakes up the flavors and removes any storage dust.

This dark is grown in Yunnan, China and is made from the naturally occurring hybrid of large and small leaf (sinensis and var. assamica) cultivar. This particular batch comes from the Spring 2013 harvest.

Prices start at $13.25 through Yunnan Sourcing — that works out to about $0.32 per gram. A 25g package gives you roughly 4 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which puts each session at around $1.92. You can compare prices across all vendors carrying this tea on the Teadar product page.