Lychee

Lychee (lizhi, 荔枝) is the sweet tropical fruit of southern China, fragrant with rose, grape and honey. Legend has it that imperial couriers raced fresh lychees across half the country for Yang Guifei, the famous Tang beauty who adored them.

Taste and aroma in tea

The classic is lychee black tea (lizhi hongcha, 荔枝红茶), an old Guangdong tradition: black leaf is gently warmed with lychee juice and pulp, and the tea absorbs the fruit’s sweetness with no artificial flavouring at all. Modern blends also add pieces of dried lychee to the leaf. Either way, lychee lends the cup a tropical juiciness and a soft honeyed note that sits especially well on a robust black tea.

In the Chinese tradition

The lychee is a symbol of the south: Guangdong and Fujian both claim it as their own, and the early-summer lychee season is a small festival in itself. In traditional thinking lychee is a “warming” fruit that restores strength; it also carries wishes of luck and a sweet life — its very name echoes the words for “benefit” and “gain”.

How to brew

Brew lychee tea like an ordinary black tea: water at 90–95 °C, short infusions. The fruit’s sweetness also makes it excellent cold — iced lychee tea on a hot day refreshes better than lemonade.