Liu Bao Cha

This medium-fermented Liu Bao offers a complex profile, starting with mushroomy notes reminiscent of ripe Pu-erh. It progresses into bittersweet dark chocolate and leaves a lingering sweet aftertaste,. It leans earthy, sweet and chocolate.

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 Guangxi, China. This batch is from the 2015 harvest.

Starts at $16.50 from Yunnan Sourcing, or about $0.14/g. A 100g package gets you around 17 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $0.84 per session. Compare dark prices across vendors on Teadar.