Gu Shu Dragon Ball Ripe Puerh

Gǔ Shù Shú Dragon Balls — Ripe Pu-erh, Yunnan, 2018

7g each · one ball, one session

Eight years in storage is what makes this tea worth drinking.

Freshly fermented ripe pu-erh carries a damp, earthy edge from the piling process — the note that puts people off shu entirely. Time takes it away. This was fermented in 2018 and has rested since, and what’s left is clean: dark wood, dried jujube, a cool trace of camphor, and a sweetness that builds in the back of the throat across infusions. The liquor pours near-black and feels thick in the mouth. There is nothing sharp about it.

The leaf is Yunnan arbor material, hand-rolled into compact 7g spheres. Rolling takes whole leaf — it can’t be done with the broken grades that disappear inside a pressed cake — and each ball is a complete session. No knife, no pick, no shards across the counter. Drop one in and go.

Comfortable, unhurried tea. Traditionally taken after a meal.

Brewing

Gongfu — the way to get the most from it

One ball in a 100–150ml gaiwan or small pot. Water at a full boil, 100°C.

Rinse twice, five seconds each, and discard. This wakes the tea and starts the ball opening.

Then: first three infusions around 10–15 seconds. From the fourth, as the ball loosens, 15–20 seconds, adding a few seconds each round. It will give you 12 to 15 infusions and the middle ones are the best.

Simple brewing

One ball in a 350–500ml pot or mug. Boiling water. Rinse first, then steep 2–3 minutes. Re-steep four or five times, extending each time.

All day

One ball in a 500ml flask, boiling water, topped up as you drink. It holds up for hours without turning bitter.

Worth knowing

The first two infusions will taste light. That’s the ball still unfurling, not a weak tea. By the third or fourth it’s fully open and at full strength. Judge it from there.

Storage: somewhere cool, dark and dry, away from anything aromatic. Pu-erh takes on the smells around it. Don’t seal it airtight — it keeps developing, and it needs a little air to do so.