I heart tea!
I drink tea all year round. My morning routine is to have a cup of Earl Grey or Lady Grey (Twinings being one of my favorite brands for these flavors). At other times of the day, I will indulge in a cup or two of tea in the mid-afternoon and in the evening.
I have a drawer full of teas that I go to for tea during this time. I have teas from so many places, sometimes it’s hard to keep track. I try not to buy too many at a time as I want to be able to finish the ones I have while they are still fresh. But it’s really hard to resist buying when I walk into a tea shop. Hence, my stuffed tea drawer:
Annie’s Tea Drawer
My current favorite tea shop is Lupicia (oh, how I wish they had a Mariage Frères near me!). If you are fortunate enough to have a Lupicia store near you, do check them out. They have a vast array of different teas and lots of flavored teas galore!
So many teas…so little time
It is a little overwhelming when you go into the store—just take your time and look around. Don’t be afraid to ask for a sample of the tea to try—they will brew it for you right there. Some flavors that I’ve really enjoyed there include Tsugaru Green (Green Apple), Sakura (cherry leaves), Jardin Sauvage (a non-fermented rooibos, tasting of mangoes and citrus), Oriental Beauty and Lichee.
Now that it is full-on summer and the days get really hot, it’s not so fun to brew a cup of hot tea. It is during this time that I enjoy drinking some of my teas iced. Not all teas do well cold but I do have a few favorites.
My favorite iced teas
One tea that is very popular is the non-caffeinated roasted barley tea (Mugicha) that the Japanese and Koreans enjoy. I really like it too and will often set a whole jug of it in the fridge to drink through the day.
But my very favorite iced tea these days is the Lichee flavored black tea that I get from Lupicia. When you drink it hot, the lychee flavor is muted and the Keemun tea stands out a bit more. For that reason, I’d rather just drink a plain Keemun hot.
But when it is cold, the lychee sweetness is in the front and simply delicious. I go through plenty of this tea during the summer and it’s a crowd pleaser with all my friends too. Even though it is unsweetened, the lychee’s fruity flavor adds its own sweetness to the tea.
Iced Lupicia Lichee Tea
Cheers, Annie
This post is entered in July’s CLICK Photo Event
>You know, as much as I drink tea, I’ve never had Lichee tea before!!!
>I’m just discovering teas so this would be a perfect addition to my collection. So far this summer, it’s all about the green tea.
>Thanks, but I think I will pass on this.
>Lychee + tea sounds delicious!
>Oh, I have never had lichee tea before either… is it very sweet?
>My husband and I both love tea and I’m curious about the Lichee Tea. Put my name in the hat please!!
>I would love to try this tea. I also heart tea. Nothing like sitting in the garden sipping tea.
This tea looks wonderful.
>lately ive been making a green tea jasmine iced tea with pieces of lychee and a bit of lychee juice. very refreshing!
>Lychee tea sounds wonderful. I love Green tea with Acai from Tea Republic, as well as Korean barley and corn tea
>WOW, I have never had lichee tea.
But one of my wife’s employees told my wife, Dr. Elizabeth, that Wegman’s in Hunt Valley (Maryland) had fresh lichees available.
So, we are off this weekend to Hunt Valley to check it out.
Thanks for the heads up!
>That looks incredible. I love iced tea, and I’ve been wondering about what to do with lychees.
>It’s hard to imagine drinking something other than tea (besides beer). When Lupicia opened a location at the new mall extension in downtown SF, I must have gone in there once a week. At some point, I had to draw a line because I may have had more tea then your awesome looking drawer. No, up in Portland, I’ll stop in a few of the stores that sell loose herbs and teas and try blending my own using a book I bought at Goodwill for .99 a few years back. Because my allergies kicked off when I got back here, I’ve been trying to blend a tea with fenugreek, chamomile, fennel and some other things. Iced yerba mate is always good. But i don’t mind drinking hot soup or hot tea in hot humid weather for some reason.
Nice blog. Keep it up!
>my recent favorite as of late is green tea with sliced almonds in the mix. Then sweetened with honey.. soo good.
>Wow, that sounds interesting. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as Lichee tea.
We usually stick to blends without caffiene, but it is easy enough to brew it twice to reduce the caffiene in the second brewing.
Currently I have been in love with an herbal blend from a local (Michigan) tea company that uses all organic. It is called Hummingbird Nectar and is from By the Light of Day (that is the name of the tea company). It is very good and has a few pieces of maple sugar in it to take some of the bitter edge off. My kids love it iced!!
Lisajatifhw
>I love lychees, so this tea sounds great. i drink a lot of iced peach tea, garnished with frozen peaches, in the summer.
>Chai is always a winner with me (I even drink it cold), but I like a good jasmine tea occasionaly. Lichee tea is a new one for me however.
>Yum, I love tea!
Thanks for coming by. I loved the food in Hawaii! Also, we were really trying to find Aoki’s – I know it’s along the same road – but we drove the same stretch 3 or 4 times and couldn’t find it, so we ended up settling for Matsumoto’s! We’ll have to find it next time. 🙂
>nothing fancy–jasmine lime tea from peet’s coffee 🙂
must try ur iced lychee tea!
>spaermint tea is best in summer!! ice cold!
>I would love to try this (and I would love to know how to pronounce Lychee).
>I don’t drink tea during the summer… I usually steep tea leaves in cream and milk, cool, and make ice cream 🙂
>I adore tea year round, but my favorite in the summer is Fortnum & Mason's black tea with vanilla iced. It's marvelous.
>@SteamyKitchen – Jaden, this might become a new favorite in your tea rotation!
@Helen – do you drink your green tea iced?
@Vicki – it is!
@Tiffany – no, it’s unsweetened tea. The lichee adds its own sweet, fruity essence, kind of like a rose.
@Michelle – you got it!
>I love tea no matter what season! Summertime, with iced peppermint tea definitely from throat to heart! a touch of Lime and honey(trust me taste better than lemon!) with iced green tea would be perfect too! or Get a great fusion iced Chinese Jasmine Tea add a touch with apple juice and slices of green apple. (My bf birthday is coming and he is hardcore fans of Lychee…)
😉
>@Pietra – sipping tea in the garden sounds so relaxing.
@Mai – Yes, that does sound refreshing.
@Jieun – hm, haven’t had acai yet. But I do love the roasted corn tea – it’s so complex and delicious!
@d0cchuck – good luck on the lichee hunt 😉
@Gillsnthrills – I love your handle!
@El Particular – I have dreadful allergies too. Does the herbal tea remedy get rid of it?
@Elizabeth – wow, sliced almonds! I love almonds. Going to have to try this one.