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?
Anyway, to my best guess, a lychee effectively tastes a bit like a tangy plum. There are also some rich, malty, maybe a little chocolate-y notes in this tea. I’m not sure if that’s the black tea or the lychee. This is not a sweet berry. This is a bitter, exotic, interesting berry. VERY tasty hot.
But this tea is really weird iced.
The tea’s original description (it’s not currently on the site) said “pour over ice for a refreshing change to regular iced tea.” I made this iced the other day in the spirit of adventure. I hadn’t actually made it hot yet. I dove right in. (That’s my motif for 2017: “spirit of adventure!” My husband is already making fun of me for it. You can feel free to pile on if you’d care to.)
I had actually considered the iced taste peculiar, sort of soapy and sickly sweet and unnatural. I kid you not: the word “soapy” occurred to me several days before I found out that lychee was a “soapberry.” I also think the notes I read as “chocolate” were off-putting cold.
If you’re grasping the spirit of adventure, try this cold, but if you want to try out a lychee flavor in a safer way, go hot.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Persimmon Tree Tea Company
Description
Per the Persimmon Tree Tea Company’s website, they are on hiatus.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Honeysuckle Pu’erh from The Persimmon Tree
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu’erh
Where to Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Tea Description:
The Honeysuckle pu-erh tea delivers a deep red infusion with a sweet woodsy, floral aroma. The finished brew is mild and earthy, with a lingering hint of honeysuckle. This honeysuckle tea can be steeped multiple times in a sitting without becoming bitter. This particular pu-erh is cooked and has been aged for about 4-6 years.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The urge to drink Pu’erh comes and goes with me, perhaps largely because I initially found it a very acquired taste. Even though I’ve now tried a significant variety of different Pu’erhs, I still feel that I’m learning about the variety and discovering new things. This tea, for instance. I’ve never tried a floral Pu’erh before, or any variety flavoured with honeysuckle, come to that. It’s a real first! I treated this one as I would generally treat a loose-leaf Pu’erh, using 1 tsp of leaf in boiling water. I tend to vary the brew time based on the individual tea and the strength/scent/liquor colour, but went with a fairly standard (for me) 1 minute this time. The resulting liquor is a medium red-brown. The scent once brewed, and while brewing, is very evidently a Pu’erh – it has quite pungent manure notes!
To taste, this has to be one of the most unique Pu’erhs I’ve tried so far. I was expecting a fairly standard earthy/manure flavour based purely on the scent, but it’s actually nothing like that. Instead, there’s an initial almost-sharpness, which blossoms into a heavy, sweet, nectar like floral. Honeysuckle! There are virtually no earth or manure flavours to be found, which is a big surprise. The sweetness seems very natural, and isn’t at all overpowering. I think it’s helped by a sort of yogurt-like note which contributes a cool, tangy freshness to the overall cup.
I really like this one. I’m definitely the kind of person that objects to strong manure flavours in their tea, although I don’t mind earthiness at all. This one is pretty unique amongst those I’ve tried in that it has no earth or manure notes (despite the scent). The flavouring is sufficiently strong that the honeysuckle is front and centre pretty much the whole time, although as it cools this does dissipate a little to reveal just a hint of what lurks beneath. I’m pretty sure a fairly conservative brew time helped here – a longer one might herald more of a “traditional” Pu’erh flavour. I personally like the honeysuckle, though, so I’ll always err on the side of caution when brewing this one. It’s an outstandingly flavourful cup!
Lychee Burst Black from The Persimmon Tree Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Persimmon Tree Tea Company (On Hiatus)
Tea Description:
Lychee Burst tea is a fruitful blend of lychee essence and organic, black loose-leaf tea. It steeps a sweet infusion; with delicate notes of apricot, osmanthus and ripe pear. Bring out the flavor with rock sugar, and pour over ice for a refreshing change to regular iced tea.
Learn more about this tea on Steepster!
Taster’s Review:
Recently I received a sample of this tea from a tea friend in the mail! 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 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. If you’re looking for a black lychee tea, my suggestion would be to start here after The Persimmon Tree’s hiatus is over.
Assam Gold Black Tea from The Persimmon Tree
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Tea Description:
This smooth, malty infusion is the perfect alternative to coffee. Assam Gold can be steeped multiple times while retaining its flavor. Golden in color, this import from Northern India is a thick, comfortable black tea brew that warms and energizes after a tough, bitter, cold day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I think of “Gold” in relation to “Assam”, I’m usually thinking of “Golden Lion” varieties where the leaves really are golden-brown in colour, frequently accompanied by what I think of as “lots of golden dust”, a little like the grey/white dust that white tea sometimes exudes. This Assam clearly isn’t one of those – the leaves here are mostly a black/brown colour, with the odd golden-tipped leaf. They’re mostly fairly small – around 1/4cm in length, although some are as long as 1cm. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. I added a splash of milk.
To taste, this one is deliciously malty. It’s sweet and almost thick-tasting, in the way of molasses. It’s also deliciously smooth and creamy, with a very mild bready note at the end of the sip. It’s slightly tannic, although not nearly as much as Assam can be. It’s a cup I’d happily drink on a morning, as it’s strong and full-bodied enough to be a good “wake-up!” tea, yet still fairly gentle.
I enjoyed this cup – it’s a classic Assam. I didn’t find it especially unique, but sometimes that’s not what’s required. It’s a good, solid example of my favourite tea variety, and would make a great introduction for the uninitiated. Lovely stuff.