Lychee Burst

A juicy lychee black tea to bring some cheer into a morning class on a snowy day. I’d say that this tea did its job for today.

I wanted something a little bit fruity so I decided to try this sample today. The dry leaf smells like grape juice and prunes. I think I was expecting this to be a brighter scent, but what it smells like is baking, a little bit like a cross between date squares and apple crisp.

The flavouring has scents of fruit, more of baked apple or peach to me than lychee, and cinnamon. The base has a mix of pastry and leather\licorice notes.

The first sip has a floral, lily like note opening upto a peppery lychee note, the base adds a deeper malty note, a slight biscuit note and a hint of fruit. The tea has an aftertaste of floral accented lychee. Without sugar the taste seems disconnected from the scent. Sugar brings out more of the baked good notes and actually minimizes the lychee note and makes it taste slightly more floral. Altogether pleasant for an occasional sip.

I don’t even know what Lychee tastes like, although I should buy one some day and try it! This was one of the samples I scooped for $1 and I’m glad to have tried it. It’s a happy jumble of fruit, and I can definitely recognize the peach and the apricot.

If I didn’t have enough fruity teas at the moment I would definitely consider picking up a bit more of this one. It’s quiet enjoyable, and I suspect it would be tasty iced.

I ordered this as a sample and I’m likely to order more as I found it to be much to my liking. The scent of the leaves were very enticing as was the aroma of the brew. Both spoke well of the floral nature of the lychee. The taste was very reminiscent of the berry itself which could be tasted throughout and seemed strongest in the after taste – but pleasantly so. I’m not faniliar with the taste of osmanthus, but I didn’t detect any flavor inconsistent with the lychee. The second steep was a bit weak, but overall a very pleasant libation!

Added Note: I have since chosen to add this tea to my “standing collection”. Happily the sample was representative of my larger purchase and I continue to enjoy Lychee Burst frequently.

’There’s a Chinese place in my town named Lychee, and when I rent to try/review this tea, I suddenly realized I had no idea what a lychee even was.

It’s a soapberry fruit, guys. It’s a pink/red berry that you pull apart to reveal — and I’m quoting Wikipedia here — “a layer of sweet, translucent white flesh.”

Let’s all take a moment to mull on the fact that “sweet, translucent white flesh” is totally something Hannibal Lecter would say. Am I alone in experiencing a frisson of fear upon reading that?’

The full post talks about how I didn’t love lychee, actually, but you might: http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/01/18/a-unique-tea-adenture-lychee-burst-from-persimmon-tree-tea-company/

Sipdown (117)!

Another from TeaNTees!

I didn’t even realize that The Persimmon Tree Tea Company offered a black lychee tea, but I was certainly excited to learn that they do and be able to try it. The last black lychee tea I fell in love with, The Tea of Kings, was from RiverTea so I can’t buy it anymore. I need a solid replacement.

My initial thoughts about this cold brew are that the flavor level of the lychee and black base are pretty equal, which is how I feel it should be. The black base is brisk, clean and full bodied with malty notes and slightly more floral notes. It reminds me vaguely of a high grown Ceylon? The lychee is juicy and realistic and doesn’t taste overly floral or chemical which is a trap that flavour often falls into with lower quality lychee teas. I taste the pear notes a little too, but they’re fairly flat and certainly not the focal point of the blend.

I don’t think this is my new lychee black to keep on hand, but it’s definitely one of the better ones I’ve had the pleasure of tasting. Thank you TeaNTees!

Can’t remember who gave me a sample of this, but it was super refreshing and fruity cold brewed at lunch today!

I don’t usually reach for lychee teas because they can be too astringent. This one is just right. It’s pleasantly juicy and fruity without tasting artificial or floral. It is clean and the two stars (lychee and black tea) really shine through.

I would highly recommend this tea for those that have been burned by off-putting lychee flavored teas. I can’t find anything wrong with this tea and I enjoy drinking it. I love when teas that smell good have a matching taste, which this does.