Autumn Ailao

This dark from Yunnan, China offers a distinctive drinking experience. This old arbor raw Pu-erh from the remote Ai Lao mountains offers a captivating profile. It unfolds with distinct hints of orchid and honey, balanced by fresh grassy undertones. The tea presents a won. It sits in the "Orchid" and "Honey" and "Sweet" flavor families, so expect a cup that leans orchid and honey and sweet.

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. This particular batch comes from the Autumn 2019 harvest.

Prices start at $16.00 through Yunnan Sourcing — that works out to about $0.44 per gram. A 25g package gives you roughly 4 gongfu sessions at ~6 g each, which puts each session at around $2.64. You can compare prices across all vendors carrying this tea on the Teadar product page.