Wild Arbor Raw Pu-erh Cake

Description

Raw pu-erh is the long game. Pressed from the spring picking of mature, ungrafted arbor trees, this cake is still young and still a little sharp — which is exactly what you want if you intend to keep it.

Right now: apricot skin, wet stone, a fast bitterness that turns sweet within a couple of seconds, and a distinct cooling sensation at the back of the throat. With a few years of storage the edges will round off and the fruit will darken. We drink one cake and store two.

How we drink it

One quick rinse. Keep the first infusion very short, then build slowly. It will run to a dozen infusions or more if you are patient.