These Dragon Balls are made from raw pu-erh tea harvested and processed in Mei Zi Qing Village in Lincang, Yunnan. The trees this tea comes from are 40-150 years old, so they are mostly not quite what one would call "old tree" or gushu, but definitely old enough to give the tea complexity and high infuseablity.
The tea from these is quite good. It has a certain thickness, potency, and generally sweet character, with plenty of hui gan (returning taste). I personally find myself returning to these often, and it helps that these are perfectly sized for single brewings. No weighing or pu-erh picks needed!
For those new to dragon balls, it's good to start off with a long hot rinse of 30 seconds or so in near-boiling water, then discard that water. When the dragon ball has cooled to the touch, you can pull the leaves apart some. It is now ready to be properly steeped. Use short steeps at first of around 5-10 seconds, adding time with subsequent infusions. One should easily be able to get 10 or more steeps.
Harvested and crafted in spring 2020.