Golden Sail Brand

I always forget I have this one, as it lives at the back of my cupboard… The tin is giant, holding over 200 grams of tea.

I quite like it though, especially for how inexpensive it is. The base tea is woody and earthy with some musty hay and mineral notes. The lychee flavor is juicy and sweet but not too in-your-face. Overall, it’s nicely balanced.

I’m sure this would be lovely iced as well. I also saw a tasting note that mentioned milk tea which is a fabulous idea… ❤️

Home – 8:30 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 28

Finally it’s the weekend! This week has been absolutely awful at work, I’ve been dragging every night by the time I got home. So thank goodness that’s over! Plus I get to go visit my soon-to-be house tomorrow, and supposedly they’ve started the tile and countertops so that will be exciting to see.

I think I bought this tea at the Asian supermarket the last time I went for a restock, because why not? That being said, I’m not sure how on Earth I ended up with multiple lychee-flavored black teas. It’s not as if it’s a favorite flavor of mine or anything, yet somehow I have 3 or 4 different versions. (shrug)

The leaves looked rather small and flaky, so I shortened the steep to 2.5 minutes.

I’m actually quite (pleasantly) surprised by how mild the lychee flavoring is. Based on the smell of the dry leaf, I expected it to be much stronger. But it’s actually quite nicely balanced with the black tea. The base tea is strong enough to hold its own, and has some earthy notes. It’s a little bit brisk as well, but with only the tiniest hint of bitterness. The lychee is nice and light, juicy, and floral.

Overall, this is much better than I expected, especially for the price.

I was a bit surprised that this oriental-supermarket Pu-erh didn’t yet have a proper generic entry in Steepster, so I added it. I bought this together with a Sea Dyke Tie Guan Yin to get some baselines into my research.

This is a tea that screams ‘tea egg’: very choppy leaf parts that don’t really expand and instantly give off their content. So after a messy gaiwan attempt I made a pot instead. As I approach this from a previous experience with some even grainier mini tuo’s, I was surprised that the water didn’t turn to mud instantly, and I might have brewed a bit too light. Inspection of the infuser confirms that this is true: again, these leaf parts hardly expand at all, so in this case, more is more.

I set out to hack my brew by refilling the infuser and returning it to the same water. The problem is, there is so little to these teas that they really need a full body for anything to be experienced at all. In doing so, for instance, a slight camphor note can be teased out of the mini tuo’s I mentioned before.

I don’t think I can honestly say that it is the same for this tea. There is dry wood in there, which basically is just the tea itself. Beyond that I can only call this a ‘black tea flavoured pu-erh tea’. What it does well: it puts a decent tea buzz in your throat, nose and mind. Of course, this the cumulative effect of all my attempts to appreciate this tea.

I won’t call this tea awful or even a waste of money, but it is certainly nothing beyond a daily household tea. Perhaps good to have at home for the cheapness and the reference, but not something you miss out on at all, so no recommendation.

An inexpensive puerh, with strong and rich aroma, a bargain. Mao cha in CTC . Long lasting taste, perfect for daily brewing . I recommand a long brewing time that produces a dark thick mellow liquor. Single infusion in my opinion but as it is rather cheap, it is a fair deal.

Great tea. Love to have it in the evening. All over the day it’s also good.

Got this at the local oriental supermarket. Full of flavour, grassy taste.

Got it for cheap at the Chinese market to try it and gift it to someone. I considered giving to Andrew though he would prefer a higher graded leaf version. I also considered giving it to my dear friend Rachel since rose black is her favorite, she has gone through some crap, and this totally appeals to her tastes. Anyone could use a good cuppa tea. Lychee and rose is what I get with no to little astringency. Also mega smooth and sweet. Probably one of the better teas meant for a tea ball.

I usually am not a big fan of flavored teas, but I really enjoy this tea. I have to be in the mood for it, but when I am, it definitely hits the spot. The sweet flavor isn’t overwhelming, and it is balanced nicely with the black tea…very smooth. I know I mention price a lot, but, I am very appreciative when a tea is sold at a good price…this one is really, really inexpensive. Definitely worth purchasing and trying out…or let me know if you want a sample, and I’ll gladly send you some!

I made two pitchers of this tea iced because I got a little too excited about my new Takeya flash-chill tea pitchers. So I’ll be drinking it for awhile.

It’s good iced, with just a hint of sugar. I like it cold, room temp, and of course warm!

Warm, the lychee flavor comes forward strongly, a little tart with just the right amount of fragrance. More like the canned version you buy to make desserts though, not as sweet as fresh lychee.

It’s a lovely everyday, anytime type of tea. I always wash the leaves first though, or the first steep is overwhelmingly strong. The leaves are good for several steepings, but oversteeping makes the lychee taste/smell much more chemical. My sister enjoys making milk tea with this one.

Lichee black tea will always have a special place in my tea collection. It’s mellow and kind of an anytime tea. It’s sweet and slightly floral. The lichee flavor doesn’t overpower the black base. A nice first cup :]

This is an amazing tea. Especially for the price. I bought it for $8(for half a pound), and have been drinking it for quite a while now. It is a very rich, almost mahogany color. The dry tea itself smells very fruity, and definitely could be off-putting. But the product is great. It is very smooth, and surprisingly subtle lychee taste. I found that when I steeped it longer, that flavor went away, and it did become bitter, but I may just prefer the slight fruitiness. There is little to no loss of flavor in the second steep. Overall, you really can’t go wrong with the price.

I don’t normally like fruit-flavored teas because often, the fruit flavor negates the tea flavor and I can’t taste either. That is not the case with this tea. It’s delightful. Sweet, without being cloying, and it still tastes like tea!

Brewed this tea smells of biscuits raisins and a lychee scent accompanied by a slight sharp citrusy note. The liquor is an aged maple wood colour.

It tastes of biscuit, raisin,and lychee. With the lychee note like that found in canned lychee packed in water, There is a hint of a green floral notes and malty lightly bitter after note. The tea is smooth, with a medium to thick body and no astringency. It is very forgiving you can steep it and forget about it and it remains easily drinkable. It makes a great iced tea and cold brews really well. It re-steeps decently well. Overall a nice affordable every day tea.

Decided to try this one out since I have no spicy caffeinated teas at the moment. The dry smell is quite fruity, and the tea scent comes out as it’s steeping. It smells delicious! The naked flavor is really interesting- fruit hints with black tea overtones. Slightly tart. Nice full mouth feel with a bit of dryness. Very nice!

I find this tea to taste great even when steeped for a really long time. It’s drinkable at any point of it’s tea life. With slightly different flavor at different steep times. For me it never gets too bitter no matter how long I steep it. I’ve left it steeping for hours, then drank it cold and it still tastes great.

Highly recommended if you like black tea.

Steeped it a little too long this time. The lichee notes were definitely taken a good bit over by those strong, pungent black tea tannins. The second steeping wasn’t bad. Subtle notes of lichee, with a smooth black taste.

Got this tea yesterday in Chinatown, and had some last night. Having it again this morning! I used a top of cup drop down infuser (Is there an official name for this?) steeping for only between 15-20 seconds for each steep. With the device I have, two steeps fills a cup.

I have to say, oh my. I am so excited for this tea. Growing up, I had always loved eating lychee. Now that I know there’s a tea flavored like it, I’ve died and gone to heaven.

The aroma, upon first opening the tin, is very lichee. It’s not too overpowering, to seem artificial, but it’s definitely apparent.

The flavor of the tea is a very sweet, gloriously fruity high profile of lichee, but with a sneaking boldness of a pungent black tea in waiting. I’m glad I only steeped it for 15 seconds, because I could imagine this tea getting much stronger if gone for any longer. So word to the wise, if you steep this for a few minutes, you might get a completely different profile, with more subtle notes of lichee, and more pungent black tea flavors.

All and all, a good tea for the price. I can tell it’s not the best quality, but it certainly works for an everyday enjoyment.

The only caveat I have about this tea is, after the first two steepings, it loses a significant amount of its lichee flavor. On the third and fourth now, and it has subtle notes, but I’ll probably toss it and steep anew.

I really like this Oolong. Believe it or not, I actually found it in the Eastern Arts store at the local mall. All I add to it is a little bit of sugar and it’s perfect. And it smells delightful. Almost every time I walk by the box I have to take a whiff. Is that wierd? Any-hoo, I hope the claim about dissolving fat is true, ‘cause I’m hoping to lose at least 15 pounds before bathing suit weather hits.