https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZEtVbJT5c
I have made it to the last black tea in my cupboard! And as far as I know, I don’t have any black tea samples left to taste either.
This is a pretty tea, and yes, it is lychee — very strong lychee, a very singular lychee note — that I smell coming out of the tin.
The tea is a dark chestnut color, leaning toward mahogany. It smells like lychee, but also like something else. Something minerally. Rock like. Maybe a little like potato. For those synesthetes out there, if a malty yunnan smells gold, this smells silver.
There’s also a warmer note in there somewhere. Something coffee-like.
Flavor-wise this is better than I expected. I am not a huge lychee fan. I don’t dislike it, but it isn’t something I’d put in a favorite category. Still, done well it can be quite enjoyable for me.
This one is done really well. It’s probably the best lychee black tea I’ve had, though I haven’t had that many (oh Steepster, when will you let my search my notes based on flavor profile? Or based on rating? Or based on anything? I would so love a search function as the ordering functions are limited in their utility.)
If I was going to stock a lychee black tea in my permanent collection, this would be it. Say no more.
Flavors: Coffee, Lychee, Mineral, Potato, Wet Rocks
Preparation
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Comments
I dig reading the note while your link plays. Nice touch.
It’s a nice recording. :-)
Do you find lychee teas to differ quite a bit in taste? I tried one and disliked the taste so much that I have not been able to bring myself to finish the reminder of the 50-g bag – which is rare for me. So I am wondering if I need to try a couple of more before I write them off completely.
If you really dislike lychee, you might not like this. I don’t dislike it — to be honest, I don’t think about it much at all — but I have found that some lychee teas either have something about the base that doesn’t go well with the flavor, or the flavor is too heavy, or too artificial, or something along those lines. This is unusual in that the base is nice and the flavor doesn’t seem painted on. It’s not something I’d drink every day, but if I wanted to keep one on hand as a change of pace I’d pick this one.
Thank you Morgana, it was informative. By the way, how do you order Mariage Frères teas? I went to their website and it is all in French. Do you order them off the Amazon or do you read in French?
I ordered from a place called the Cutured Cup which is in Dallas.
But also you can change the language on the Mariage Freres site to English in the upper right hand corner.
Thank you, thank you! Will explore both.
I dig reading the note while your link plays. Nice touch.
It’s a nice recording. :-)
Do you find lychee teas to differ quite a bit in taste? I tried one and disliked the taste so much that I have not been able to bring myself to finish the reminder of the 50-g bag – which is rare for me. So I am wondering if I need to try a couple of more before I write them off completely.
If you really dislike lychee, you might not like this. I don’t dislike it — to be honest, I don’t think about it much at all — but I have found that some lychee teas either have something about the base that doesn’t go well with the flavor, or the flavor is too heavy, or too artificial, or something along those lines. This is unusual in that the base is nice and the flavor doesn’t seem painted on. It’s not something I’d drink every day, but if I wanted to keep one on hand as a change of pace I’d pick this one.
Thank you Morgana, it was informative. By the way, how do you order Mariage Frères teas? I went to their website and it is all in French. Do you order them off the Amazon or do you read in French?
I ordered from a place called the Cutured Cup which is in Dallas.
But also you can change the language on the Mariage Freres site to English in the upper right hand corner.
Thank you, thank you! Will explore both.