This is a first flush of Spring 2018 "Huang Pian" from old tea trees in area of Bang Dong village in Lincang. Huang Pian (黄片) are mature leaves that are typically removed from the finished mao cha before pressing. Huang Pian being more mature and larger leaves are typically quite sweet and pleasant to drink, especially those that come from older tea trees. These Huang Pian dragon balls are certainly pleasant to drink, not weak at all, but less bitter and astringent than a traditional plucked (2 leaf to 1 bud) raw pu-erh. You might find yourself really enjoying these. They will age gracefully developing more honey-like sweetness as the years pass. These Dragon Balls were made by my mother in-law and father-in-law. They make them in their spare time. They use little pieces of cotton to compress them instead of saran wrap. Saran wrap compression is the most common method because it's faster, but it causes off gassing into the tea since the tea must be steamed to soften and is very hot. We use cotton, which is safe. 100% of the profits from this Dragon Ball will go directly to my father/mother-in-law. We will give them it to them on Chinese New Year as a little red packet since they won't accept money directly from my wife or I. Most likely they will put most of it in the bank for their retirement! Each Dragon Ball is roughly 7 grams of tea (+/- 0.5 grams) Only 1400 Dragon Balls made for Spring 2018 (about 10 kilograms) **color of wrapping paper and twist tie may differ from that in the photos
