Earthy · Roasted · Sweet
Our first grade, the top of the line. A Yunnan pu-erh from the region most prized for it. Brewed, it pours a very dark reddish brown with a distinct, earthy aroma. The taste is lightly roasted with a prominent, full first flavor, and the aftertaste turns slightly sweet and roasted, lingering on the palate. A warm, grounding, comforting cup, reached for after a meal or on a cool evening. Origin: Yunnan, China Tasting: Earthy · Roasted · Sweet Brew: 100°C · 3g / 150ml · 3 to 5 minutes
Brewing Guide
Pu-erh is the classic after-meal tea in China, the dark cup poured at the end of a rich or heavy meal. In Traditional Chinese Medicine it is read as warming and grounding, said to aid digestion, cut through greasiness, warm and settle the stomach, and comfort the body, which is why it is reached for through the cool months and after big meals.
Modern interest in pu-erh centers on what the maturing of the leaf does to its chemistry: the long mellowing develops a distinct profile of polyphenols and compounds studied for their role in digestion, lipid handling, and metabolism, while smoothing away the astringency of the young leaf. None of this is a medical claim. It does explain why pu-erh has been the everyday digestive cup of so many households for so long.
Tradition
The classic Chinese after-meal cup — poured at the end of a rich or heavy meal to settle the stomach and cut through greasiness.
Modern lens
The maturing of the leaf smooths away astringency for a gentle, low-tannin cup that sits easily after eating.
Tradition
Reached for after big meals and through the cool months as a warming, grounding tea.
Modern lens
Pu-erh's matured polyphenols are the most-studied of any tea for their role in lipid handling and metabolism.
Tradition
Drunk daily as a warming tonic — said to comfort and "warm" the body without drying it.
Modern lens
The maturing of the dark leaf develops a distinct profile of polyphenols and theabrownins alongside the catechins of the original leaf.
Tradition
A cold-weather and evening cup — warm, dark, and grounding, the comfort tea of a Chinese household.
Modern lens
The smooth, low-astringency dark cup drinks comfortably hot and gentle, easy on the stomach late in the day.
The Reserve
Yunnan Crown Reserve is our first grade, the top of the line. It comes from Yunnan in southwestern China, the region most prized for pu-erh, where warm misty mountains and old tea gardens give the leaf its depth. Brewed, it pours a very dark reddish brown with a distinct, earthy aroma, the unmistakable character of a well-made Yunnan pu-erh.
The taste is lightly roasted with a prominent, full first flavor, and the aftertaste turns slightly sweet and roasted, lingering on the palate long after the cup is set down. It is a warm, grounding, comforting tea, the dark cup a household reaches for after a meal or on a cool evening.
Heritage
Pu-erh is Yunnan's tea. The broad-leaf tea trees of the southwest, some of them old and tall rather than the low clipped bushes of other regions, have been picked and pressed and aged here for centuries, traded along the old tea-horse roads that ran out of the province in every direction. Yunnan's warm, humid mountains are what let the leaf take on its deep, earthy character.
Pu-erh is set apart from other teas by what happens after picking. The leaf is processed and then allowed to mature, mellowing over time into the dark, smooth, earthy cup pu-erh is known for, the colour deepening toward reddish brown and the rough edges of the young leaf settling into roundness. A careful producer grades the leaf by size and wholeness, and reserves the cleanest, most complete first-grade leaf for the top tin.
Yunnan Crown Reserve is that first-grade leaf, the cup a household pours when the cup is meant to matter, sold beside our Signature and Select grades from the same Yunnan source.
Flavor
Brew pu-erh hot. Use water at a full boil, 100°C, with about three grams of leaf to 150ml of water, and steep three to five minutes, longer or shorter depending on how strong you like the cup. A quick rinse of the leaf first wakes it and clears the dark dust of the dry leaf before the first real steep.
The cup pours a very dark reddish brown with a distinct earthy aroma. The taste is lightly roasted, with a prominent and full first flavor that fills the mouth, and the aftertaste turns slightly sweet and roasted, lingering on the palate. Pu-erh is forgiving and long-lasting in the pot: the leaf gives steep after steep, the cup staying smooth and round, never sharp.
Tasting Notes
A distinct, warm earthy aroma with a lightly roasted edge — the signature character of a well-made Yunnan pu-erh.
Lightly roasted, smooth and round, with a prominent, full first flavor that fills the mouth and no sharpness.
Slightly sweet and roasted, lingering on the palate long after the cup is set down.
Across the session韻
Rinse
A quick five-second rinse wakes the dark leaf and clears the dry dust before the first real steep.
Opening
The cup pours dark reddish brown, earthy and lightly roasted, the full first flavor arriving up front.
Round
The leaf opens fully — smooth, round and warm, the sweet-and-roasted aftertaste settling in to linger.
Long tail
Pu-erh keeps giving — softer, sweeter steeps that carry on well past where a lighter tea would thin out.
Rinse
A quick five-second rinse wakes the dark leaf and clears the dry dust before the first real steep.
Opening
The cup pours dark reddish brown, earthy and lightly roasted, the full first flavor arriving up front.
Round
The leaf opens fully — smooth, round and warm, the sweet-and-roasted aftertaste settling in to linger.
Long tail
Pu-erh keeps giving — softer, sweeter steeps that carry on well past where a lighter tea would thin out.
