Spring Lincang

This 2014 raw Pu-erh tea from Bangbao village offers a strong and pungent character with a notable cooling sensation. While young, it presents a desirable bitterness and astringency, signaling its pot. It leans earthy, pungent and cooling.

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 2014 harvest.

Starts at $19.00 from Yunnan Sourcing, or about $0.52/g. A 25g package gets you around 4 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $3.12 per session. Compare dark prices across vendors on Teadar.