Lychee black tea
A Guangdong black tea scented with lychee, made by exposing the finished leaf to the fruit rather than by adding syrup or flavouring. It is one of the older Chinese fruit-scented teas and long predates the flavoured-tea industry.
Character
Openly sweet and fruity, and one of the easiest Chinese teas for a newcomer to like. The lychee note is unmistakable and not subtle.
- Flavour
- Fruity, Sweet, Floral
- Aroma
- Stone fruit, Honeyed
- Mouthfeel
- Medium, Smooth
- Complexity
- Straightforward
- Notes
- lychee, honey, rose
- Aftertaste
- Sweet and fruity, fading cleanly.
Moderate intensity: noticeable weight or grip, but neither dominates the cup.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- China
- Oxidation
- Fully oxidised
- Harvest
- Spring
- Processing
- Withering → Rolling and shaping → Oxidation → Drying → Scenting
History
A Guangdong scented black tea exported from the nineteenth century, and one of the older Chinese fruit-scented teas. It predates the modern flavoured-tea industry by roughly a century.
Brewing
Western brewing (teapot or mug)
1–1.5 g/100 ml · 95–100 °C · 1 authored infusion
Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)
4–5 g/100 ml · 90–95 °C · 5 authored infusions
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.
If you like this
Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.
Editorially linked
Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.
- Rose Congou
Two traditionally scented Chinese black teas often shelved together with modern flavoured teas. Both are made by exposing finished leaf to real flowers or fruit rather than by adding flavouring.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Oriental Beauty
Shares 7 descriptors with Lychee black tea: fruity, sweet, floral, smooth, medium, honeyed and stone fruit.
- Bai Mudan
Shares 6 descriptors with Lychee black tea: sweet, fruity, floral, medium, smooth and honeyed.
- Bai Mudan Wang
Shares 6 descriptors with Lychee black tea: sweet, fruity, floral, medium, smooth and honeyed.
- Darjeeling muscatel
Shares 6 descriptors with Lychee black tea: fruity, sweet, medium, smooth, stone fruit and honeyed.
- Gong Mei
Shares 6 descriptors with Lychee black tea: sweet, floral, fruity, medium, smooth and honeyed.
- Ling Tou Dan Cong
Shares 6 descriptors with Lychee black tea: floral, sweet, fruity, medium, smooth and honeyed.
- Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong
Shares 6 descriptors with Lychee black tea: sweet, fruity, floral, medium, honeyed and stone fruit.