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Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect from this tea. I’ve had a sample of this sitting in my cupboard for a while now and this morning I decided it was finally time to try it out.

The dry leaves were notably interesting to look at, with a nice mix of black and green.

I have to say, I’m actually impressed. I’m normally not a fan of overly flavoured black teas, but somehow Samovar pulls it off again and again. I’m not getting an overpowering punch of any one particular flavour, but I’m getting a nice rounded cup that I think I can actually see myself drinking every day.

Colour me impressed. A lemon tea that I actually like? Oh, Samovar. Only you. =P

So, like Auggy, I don’t have much past experience with lychee in any form so I’m not sure if my rating has much merit… But I will at least rate it strictly on the terms of how I like it.

In terms of the looks of the dry leaves, I think this is probably one of the most black and thick leaves I have seen… but once they’re wet they turn into the usual black tea leaves.

I knew there would be a floral aspect to this tea but the look of the leaves don’t give off that impression. The smell gives it away, but I think I wasn’t expecting so much floral flavour from this. It’s becoming a trend, this whole “not expecting certain flavours” thing.

I’m not sure if I would call this one “light”. Maybe I steeped it longer than others, but it seemed pretty dark and full bodied, just with strong hints of lychee.

Not sure if I would get this one again simply because I’m still not sure if I care about lychee that much, but it’s definitely a good tea to try and I’m grateful that I tried it.

This was not what I was expecting.

I have to admit, I was expecting a much more robust nutty flavour from this tea. Instead, I can’t put my finger (or my taste buds, rather) on what I’m tasting. A little bit of fruityness here, a little bit of green tea there.

In short, it’s a good tea. Not quite what I was expecting, but I wouldn’t mind drinking this to take a break from my regular black teas.

Having this again today, I realize that you cannot really re-steep this much at all. During the first steep the leaves opened up a lot more than I was expecting, and now the second steep is much weaker in flavour.

Luckily, the smooth buttery taste still lasts in the second steep.

My first Yunnan tea! Very interesting… On first taste it seems like any other black tea, but once you “get to know” it, you realize it’s a little more complicated than that.

I am honestly stunned at the natural flavour that is coming from this tea. I’m not normally one to put any sugar in my teas (especially when it’s the first time I’m tasting it) but this tea tastes like it comes with sugar already!

To be honest, I felt that the complex flavours that this tea has were coming out more and more as the tea got cooler. This is definitely one of those teas that I don’t have to worry about cooling down too much. Very drinkable at room temperature!

Definitely a smooth tea, and definitely one that I will have to keep my eye on when I make my next order from Samovar. Time to go for my second steep and see what happens…