Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
Tea Description:
The dry leaf smells incredible. Lychee fruit is unique and distinct. Hopefully you’ve tasted lychee before, because it’s flavor is tough to compare. It has a natural sweetness that is present in this tea. Mixed with the smoky Chinese black tea, you get something a little exotic, sultry and sweet. This tea is smooth and light-bodied.
Learn more about this tea here.
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Taster’s Review:
Lychee teas are often hit or miss with me. Sometimes the Lychee is just too much – way too fragrant, way too over-scented, and the cup ends up tasting like someone spiked my tea with artificial tasting, nasty chemicals. Then there is sometimes the opposite side of the spectrum, where the tea is lacking in scent and flavor.
But this Lychee Black Tea from King’s Zen Tea – a tea I received in my Amoda Tasting Box for February – is really fantastic. The black tea base is nicely pronounced here – it isn’t hidden behind the Lychee flavor. It tastes rich and smooth, with a hint of smoke and I think that this smoky tone interacts quite well with the sweet, exotic flavor of the lychee fruit.
I have to disagree slightly with the description above, I don’t think I’d categorize this as a “light-bodied” tea. The lychee taste is light (when compared to a typical Lychee Congou tea) but the tea itself is what I’d categorize as a medium bodied tea … or even a medium to full bodied tea. It has a nice richness to it, it certainly isn’t as thick or rich as … say, an Assam tea or a Yunnan tea, but, it has an understated yet satisfying richness to it that is a bit more than what I’d call “light.”
The lychee fruit flavor is indeed subdued compared to some of the other lychee scented teas I’ve experienced. But I think that’s what I’m digging so much about this cup … it doesn’t have that overwhelming lychee taste that almost tastes of chemicals. This tastes light, sweet, and naturally fruit-y, while still maintaining that rather unique lychee taste.
A very nice cup. Thank you Amoda, for including it in this month’s box!
