Spring Ailao

This raw Pu-erh from the high-altitude Wu Liang mountains offers a delicate orchid aroma that gracefully transitions into a strong, full mouthfeel. It provides a persistent warmth and a luxurious, lub. It leans orchid, warming and complex.

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 Camellia sinensis var. assamica hybrid cultivar. This batch is from the Spring 2014 harvest.

Starts at $15.50 from Yunnan Sourcing, or about $0.39/g. A 25g package gets you around 4 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $2.34 per session. Compare dark prices across vendors on Teadar.