Puerh Starter Pack

Puerh Starter PackFive small cups that walk through Joanne's curated ripe pu erh progression from blended entry to a cake that includes ancient tree leaves. "This tea is a hug in a cup. A tea for the soul. No matter how long you steep it for, it does not go bitter." Laura R., verified customer review "As tea lovers, we have traveled extensively in search of remarkable teas Japan, Taiwan, China, and beyond Your teas brought us great pleasure. Please never stop

Five small cups that walk through Joanne's curated ripe pu-erh progression — from blended entry to a cake that includes ancient-tree leaves.

"This tea is a hug in a cup. A tea for the soul. No matter how long you steep it for, it does not go bitter."

— Laura R., verified customer review

"As tea lovers, we have traveled extensively in search of remarkable teas — Japan, Taiwan, China, and beyond... Your teas brought us great pleasure. Please never stop creating."

— Dana & Pedro, website contact form

What's inside

Five teas walking the ripe pu-erh spectrum, from blended entries through a daily-drinker brick and a spring-picked loose leaf, to a compressed cake that includes ancient-tree leaves: Tasmanian Lavender Puerh, Mandarin Pu-erh, "Sweet Stock" Ripe Pu-erh Brick 2021, Ripe Pu-erh 2021, and "The One" Ripe Pu-erh Cake 2024. A short tasting guide is included to help you find the pu-erh that suits your palate. Bundle price: $36.

Why this pack

Pu-erh is not one flavour. This pack is Joanne's curated progression through ripe pu-erh — five small cups, in the order she'd pour them for you at the Tea Bar. You start with two blended entries (Tasmanian Lavender and Mandarin), step into a simple pure ripe (Sweet Stock — the one Zachary keeps at home as his daily pu-erh), move into a more layered spring-picked loose leaf (Ripe 2021), and finish on the deepest cup in the pack: a 2024 ripe cake that includes ancient-tree leaves. Three contrasts you can read with your own palate as you walk through: blended vs pure, daily drinker vs more layered, and loose vs compressed. It also includes our Tasmanian Lavender Puerh, a blended ripe pu-erh awarded at the 2025 Royal Tasmanian Fine Food Awards.

The 5 teas

In Joanne's tasting order.

Tasmanian Lavender Puerh

Flavour words: floral / glutinous-rice aroma / mellow-earthy

Position on Joanne's progression: one of two blended entries. Menghai shou pu-erh with Tasmanian-grown lavender, blended in Hobart. The florals soften the entry into ripe pu-erh.

Mandarin Pu-erh

Flavour words: citrus scent / earthy / rounded

Position on Joanne's progression: the second blended entry, at the same step as Lavender or one step beyond. Xinhui mandarin peel around Menghai ripe pu-erh — chen pi with ripe pu-erh, a Chinese household pairing for generations.

"Sweet Stock" Ripe Pu-erh Brick 2021

Flavour words: sweet / leafy / clean and smooth

Position on Joanne's progression: the simple pure ripe step. Huang pian (mature leaves) from 60+ year old trees in Xigui, Yunnan. Not a complicated tea — sweet, leafy, steady, and easy to drink every day. The most affordable way to taste pure ripe pu-erh from our range.

Ripe Pu-erh 2021

Flavour words: brown sugar / smooth / mellow-earthy

Position on Joanne's progression: the more layered step. Spring-picked loose-leaf Menghai ripe — more delicate than Sweet Stock, rewards attention.

"The One" Ripe Pu-erh Cake 2024

Flavour words: rich / earthy / juicy

Position on Joanne's progression: the deepest cup in the pack. Includes ancient-tree leaves pressed into a 200g cake — woody, structured mouthfeel that fills the cup. This 5g sample lets you try the cake format before deciding if a full 200g cake belongs in your tea shelf.

What you'll learn

Drink these five as a curated walk through ripe pu-erh, in Joanne's order. Compare blended vs pure through the two blended entries (Lavender, Mandarin) and the three pure ripes that follow (Sweet Stock, Ripe 2021, The One). Compare daily drinker vs more layered through Sweet Stock against Ripe 2021 and The One Cake. Compare loose vs compressed through Ripe 2021 (loose) against Sweet Stock (pressed brick) and The One (pressed cake). By the end, you'll know where your palate settles: at the floral blended entry, at the citrus blended entry, on the simple daily drinker, in the spring-picked layers, or at the deepest cup in the pack.

Caffeine

Two of the five are low caffeine (Lavender and Sweet Stock — fine for evening cups). The other three (Mandarin, Ripe 2021, The One Cake) are medium — best from morning to afternoon. If you're caffeine-sensitive, try the medium teas earlier in the day first.

Next steps

After the pack, browse the Pu-erh Tea Collection for full sizes. For the plain-English overview, read What is pu-erh tea? A beginner's guide. For the core style split, read Raw vs Ripe Guide.

How to brew

Detailed brewing card included with the pack — Western and Gongfu brewing for each tea.

Value: $43 retail, sold at $36.