Anela

I got a bag of this to try from a coworker, and the information is all in Japanese so I was anxious to come on here and look it up! The smell is pretty intense… pure jasmine with a hint of fruit, but the taste is the opposite. All lychee, all the time. Despite that I think it’s quite pleasant. I’m not sure I would buy a whole tin of this but it’s a nice change from what I usually drink and I can’t stop sniffing it!

I don’t know about the pink argents looking like flying angels. They are pretty, though. At first, the lychee scent is slightly overwhelming, and I started to wonder if this might be one time when Lupicia hadn’t hit it dead on. I’m sure it’s got to happen once or twice.

A few sips convinced me otherwise. I’d have to be in a very specific mood to want to drink this tea, but it’s intensely fruity and refreshing. The jasmine is actually more of a solid background, while the lychee is star soprano.

At first whiff, this has a strong floral fruity smell that I can’t quite identify, it’s a mix of lychee, strawberry candy and a floral component.

The lychee is prominent. It’s very pleasant and smooth, but I suspect it’s not just 100% natural fruit since it adds a noticeable amount of sweetness. Real lychee is is astringent but in this tea, it’s more like the canned version in syrup. Not bad, by any means, but not for the hardcore lychee purist. A note of red strawberry candy follows up to make a final blast of faux fruitiness. There’s a very slight floral hint underneath it all but it’s overwhelmed by the sweet fruity blasts.

Despite the somewhat unnatural impression, it’s a nice blend and fun to drink. But it’s a ruffly Barbie pink polyester minidress, not not an organic unbleached cotton maxidress. This tea is the opposite of what you’d get in a hip faux-Scandi organic artisanal tea shop. And it’s not at all embarrassed about it. So two thumbs up for that alone!

I got a package from CameronB yesterday, and she went above and beyond, as usual!

This tea was included because of our love for strawberry tea, especially Lupicia’s. The front runner here for me is lychee, which I am not sure if I have had before. It is as floral as it is fruity to me. The lychee was followed by the jasmine, with strawberry and fruit coming behind. Ashman used milk and sugar and said it reminded him of strawberry Quik. I had it plain, but when I tasted his tea I felt his sugar made little change in the sweetness. This has a lot of natural sweetness. He agreed.

It was very good, and he felt like he got strawberry up front but has definitely never had lychee and may have mistaken the taste, or it is just a difference in our tastebuds.

Thank you so much, CameronB! I can hardly wait to try all of these!

Sipdown! (57 | 331)

So I got the Hawai’i original tea mini tin sampler when I was in Honolulu, because obviously. I had tried some of the blends before, but I still couldn’t resist it. So now I’m starting to sip them down, and I’m starting with this one and Hoku because I also bought full-size tins of them (because they’re not available on the website).

This is a light and aromatic tea, and it reminds me of some of Lupicia’s sparkling wine teas, like Soleil Levant or Rosé Royal. The description on Steepster lists lychee and jasmine, while the printed one with my set has lychee and strawberry. So maybe all three are there? The lychee is definitely the star, and it does have a potent floral edge, so I wouldn’t be surprised if jasmine is here as well. The strawberry is just a hint, and it’s definitely a candy style strawberry. The black tea is very light, and I noticed some greener-looking leaves in the mix, so I wonder if it’s a Darjeeling base?

Anyway, it’s not my favorite flavor profile because of the strong floral presence, but it feels so fancy to drink! This would be a perfect tea for a fancy, frilly tea party. :)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjgaDpLu09L/

Advent from Dustin Day 10

Another Lupicia blend! I’m very thankful for being able to try all of these blends that would’ve been either difficult/impossible for me to attain otherwise. Thank you, Dustin!

This smells like strawberry and lychee gummy candies. Tastes like them too. It’s sticky sweet, and absolutely delicious. I love that it’s on a black base, as lychee blends rarely are (at least in my experience). Another blend I would gladly repurchase if I had the chance.

I purchased this on a trip to Honolulu. This tea is fantastic with a strong Lychee and Kyoho grape flavor.

Dry and steeping, this tea smells like juicy lychee fruit! The first few sips were disappointingly flat and tasteless, but things changed a few sips in. I start getting that lychee taste. After taking a bite of some food, the taste of my tea goes flat again. What is with my taste buds?! Can I blame it on stress? I’m taking a tea break in the middle of a decision that will shake up and complicate my weekday routine and working out the logistics is not fun. I’d rather be visiting the Hawaii Lupicia location where this tea can be bought! Sipping a little more and a floral dry rose flavor comes out. This tea is interesting and not bad, but not something I see myself craving either. I should try this cold steeped before I’m out if I haven’t tried it that way before.

And later in the cup… added sugar and it did not improve the fruit flavor at all. Added some cream which made it more interesting.