Evening Songbird

Ripe (shu) pu-erh is often shared after a heavy meal (fermented teas may aid digestion), and its moderate caffeine content and grounding energy make it a comforting evening tea.  This 2016 vintage pu-erh, or “dark tea”, hails from Mengsong Mountain in Yunnan. In addition to the lush rain-forest notes, it offers an herbaceous cooling sensation.

It's traditional for dark teas to be pressed into cakes for aging and storage.  But in a modern convenience, these leaves are pressed into single-serving squares.  No need to measure, each square is 6 grams, perfect for a gong-fu session.  For brewing a single cup (“western style”), the squares are scored down the middle so they can be broken in half.