Ailao

This middle-aged raw Pu-erh presents a robust character with mellow, earthy undertones. Its straightforward profile and convenient brick format make it an excellent and unfussy choice for daily enjoym. It leans earthy, woody and smooth.

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 2010 harvest.

Starts at $10.00 from NWPuerh, or about $0.10/g. A 100g package gets you around 17 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which works out to about $0.60 per session. Explore more dark teas on Teadar.