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Looking for something with the depth and punch of coffee, but without the crash? This is the tea that converted my coffee-drinking friends into daily tea drinkers.
With a shorter brew, Obsidian has a deep red liquor and rich, warming flavours with notes of dark chocolate and earthiness. Push the brew time and it develops into a bold, full-bodied brew with enough punch to satisfy coffee drinkers, but with a much smoother finish.
Ripe puer is a unique style of tea that undergoes a piling fermentation process, giving it its rich, earthy character. Nearly ten years of ageing have softened those bold flavours, making Obsidian exceptionally smooth.
Made from organically farmed tea trees in the Bingdao region of Yunnan, China.
Tell me more
Tell me more
This tea came to us through our supplier, Zhang Rui, a guqin (Chinese zither) teacher whose father runs a tea farm in Bingdao. After many years working in the tea industry, Zhang Rui's father retired and partnered with a local farmer to produce high-quality, organically grown tea.
We first met Zhang Rui through a friend who had attended yoga sessions at his studio. When he sent us some of his family's teas, we were hooked.
Ripe pu'er is a unique type of fermented tea that is relatively new in the history of tea. It was only developed in the 1970s, and its distinctive flavour comes from a process called piling, where tea leaves are gathered into large piles, moistened with water, and covered with thermal blankets to encourage fermentation.
The method was originally developed to recreate the character of truly aged tea (think 40 years or more). While it doesn't quite replicate decades of natural ageing, it gave rise to a style of tea all its own—dark, rich, warming, and perfect for colder days.
Pu'er tea comes exclusively from Yunnan Province in China, but even within Yunnan there are countless mountains and growing regions, each producing teas with their own unique character. The leaves for Obsidian come from the Bingdao region, an area renowned for producing vibrant, complex teas.
Brewing guides
Brewing guides
Teapot
3g per 100ml of water steeped for 1 minute is a great place to start with this tea. I also like to rinse this tea before the first brew (pour a small amount of boiling water on it and then just pour it off). I personally like my ripe puer less strong, but definitely experiment with longer brew times or more leaf if like a stronger brew. It’s also fun to see how dark this tea goes if you leave it a bit longer.
Gong fu
Use boiling water with 5-6g per 100ml of water, rinse it and start with 10 second steeps, adding 5-10 seconds each steep depending on your desired strength. Can be steeped multiple times.
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