The Tea of Kings

All the RiverTea hype going on right now has made me pull out my two remaining small sample packages of this blend and Pret a Portea. Internally, I’m a hyena right now laughing loudly and egotistically at you all because I get to drink my RiverTea blends and you do not.

Mwahahaha.

But honestly, I’m so happy that RiverTea is receiving such a warm welcoming and so many people are placing orders because I’ve been nothing but impressed with the blends and the company itself. I hope everyone enjoys what they ordered as much as I’ve enjoyed the teas I received. I have my cart all built and samples picked out, but sadly I’ve yet to pick up a prepaid card to actually place my order.

So anyway, parameters for this mug were 1 tsp. of leaf in a 10 oz. mug steeped in boiling water for three minutes.

I still love the taste of this one – it’s a lychee black that really does taste exactly like a lychee. Not artificial or overly sweet, just perfect. Alongside the lychee, I also get floral notes of rose but that’s not uncommon for lychee since it’s often compared to roses, grapes, some wines, and perfumes.

For me, the sweet spot with this tea is after you’ve allowed it to cool down a little. If you try to drink it piping hot, it’s ok but cooled for 5-10 minutes and it’s just mind blowingly delicious. The black base for this one is also quite nice to boot.

For me, I only ever pull out my lychee teas (whether that’s Butiki, Tea Desire or now RiverTea) when I feel I really have time to sit down and appreciate them. I’m very excited to be getting a larger amount of this one!

This one came as a sample. More precisely it came in a zip lock bag with a clear easy to read label listing ingredients and steeping recommendations. Much appreciated touches.

The tea is well done but it is just not my thing. Lychee to me is coming off as a cross between lilac and rose. I like, even love, these flavors as additions to other flavors but on their own it is a little too girly for me. It is not bitter and there are no harsh edges. The floral flavor is balanced and not over the top. I would gladly sip this with friends but it is not something I see myself wanting to sip alone.

This smells nice and fruity dry and lightly floral with a strong black tea base as it brews. I’ve never had a lychee tea before, but I love the fruit. I still can’t get over RiverTea’s packaging—clear expiration dates! Thank you so much!

This is definitely a floral lychee flavor. It reminds me of roses a little bit, but it’s also identifiable as the fruit. It has a juiciness to it that keeps it from being too floral. The base is there but doesn’t detract from the flavor, so it feels clean to me in the same way most breakfast teas do.

I received this while ago from Roswell Strange and for some reason hadn’t tried it!

And now that I have, I’m sad! It was so good. Fruity and with a bit of a spicy kick. I guess I’d call it plums and black pepper, but honestly I wasn’t awake enough to make that kind of distinction.

Made with a touch of milk.

Lewis & Clarke TTB

I’ve never had a lychee tea, but I always seem to be curious about them… So I’m trying one! This definitely smells lovely and fruity, though I have no concept of what lychee tastes like. The scent is very sweet and somewhat tropical, with something that reminds me of ginger?

Brewed, this tea smells sweet and fruity with some floral. I am immediately reminded of Fauchon, because this tea has that odd powdered sugar-esque smell too. Interesting! I’m assuming lychee is a very floral fruit, because this hardly tastes fruity at all… It’s mostly a mild, sweet floral flavor with a little bit of that powdered sugar taste. Not terrible, but not at all what I expected. :)

L&CTTB

This one was a good lychee tea. Just the right amount of sweet.

I wrote up some notes on paper at work today, but they’re sitting on my desk. So I’m logging from memory now.

Thank you to River Tea for this sample.

The raw tea smells a little fruity but it’s subtle but definitely berry like. Using my personalitea teapot for this to share with my husband whose home after a stressful day at work.

Flavour wise this is a mild black base with gentle lychee flavour and a smoky finish. It also has rich malt tones which come through after a few sips. It has some natural sweetness but it’s light compared to the base and next time I will have to try it with a little sugar, see if that makes the lychee pop.

It’s a nice tea but average, tasted lots of teas like this one and I don’t think this will be on my purchase list.

Sipdown!!

Thank you Roswell Strange for sharing this with me. It is certainly a nice cup and the flavor is distinctively lychee. However, I am also getting a fair bit more of the base than I anticipated. That isn’t such a big deal as it is smooth and a touch malty and yet I am finding it is drowning out the delicate lychee essence. I should mention that the heavy base might be entirely my fault because I ended up overleafing this by at least a 1/2 tsp. Oops. Though, even with my crappy measuring, it is still pretty good.