Name: Lychee Congou China Black

Brand: English Tea Store

Type: Black tea, flavored

Form: Loose leaf

Review: Lychee is a delicious fruit with a marvelous scent. In Lychee Congou China Black Tea, black tea from China is blended with lychee flavoring to create a very sweet, fragrant cup of tea. The tea’s dry leaf is dark, somewhat coarse in appearance and are dominated by an intense nose of lychee. The scent of lychee is difficult to describe:  It has a concentrated “berry” quality mixed with floral notes. I suppose the scent and flavor of lychee may take some getting used to, but I think it tastes wonderful.

The tea infuses to a light-medium amber (depending on your steep time). The liquor is light-bodied with minimal astringency. The flavor of the lychee continues to dominate the tea, so if you are looking for strong tea taste, this tea may disappoint. On the other hand, the flavor of the lychee is quite nice and surprisingly sweet, with a nutty undertone that I couldn’t detect in the nose.  I’m constantly battling my sweet tooth, and I’ve found this tea to be the perfect antidote to the temptation to devour some cookies or other inappropriate snacks.  On the other hand, if you dislike strongly flavored teas or don’t like sweet flavors, this is not the tea for you.

Preparation Tips: Prepare this tea with water that is heated to about 208F. You can control the intensity of the sweet Lychee flavor by length of steep. Two minutes produces a very light, delicate cup while three to four minutes produces a much richer tea.  Do prepare this as an iced tea: Incredibly refreshing on a hot day.  Don’t even think about adding sugar.

Serving Tips: Lychee is an intriguing flavor that is best enjoyed alone or in concert with very plain foods.

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