Bitterleaf Reserve – Dragon Blood 2015 Lincang Purple Raw Puer

Our Reserve teas consist of our very earliest puer pressings and releases, ranging from a minimum of 10 years up to 20 years in age.

Availability is limited, with only 1 or 2 cakes available in some cases. If you ever lamented letting one of these slip by, then this is your last chance to pick it up (with an extra decade of age on it).

Each of these teas has remained in dry storage conditions in Kunming since day 1. This style of storage yields slower development than more humid regions, however, “dry” is largely used relative to more traditional storage locations (eg: Hong Kong, Guangdong, Malaysia, etc). With humidity in our primary storage ranging from 55-75% (depending on season), it’s not exactly a desert.

For our taste, this storage strikes a good balance between development into a smoother/sweeter tea, safety in terms of mold risks, and retaining the tea’s original character.

Upon receiving these cakes, we recommend letting them adjust after travel and reaching a new environment by “waking them up”. This can be done by storing them in a clay jar (Jianshui clay is often suitable) for 2 weeks or so, and/or introducing stable humidity with the use of a Boveda pack (no more than 72%).

Additional information