Longan

Dried fruit and sliced root simmered in water is the standard Chinese tonic brew.

Tannin against musky sugar; the dried fruit gives the cup body without milk.

Same low floral register, so it stretches the flavour rather than sitting on top.

Lactone fat suits a fruit that is otherwise thin, watery and all aroma.

Dropped into congee the dried fruit rehydrates and sweetens the whole pot slowly.

Floral on floral, but the tea is dry and the fruit is not. That gap is the pairing.

Earthy bean sweetness under musky fruit; the dessert soup runs on both being mild.

That petrol note is TDN, not a terpene, and it finds an edge a lychee never has.

Crunch and starch under soft fruit, stewed until the sugar gets into the holes.

Poached in the sweet broth, the yolk fat carries a very faint aroma a long way.

The drying kilns already put phenols in it. Cold-smoking the fresh fruit closes the loop.

Rice esters and musky sugar; the alcohol pulls out the note the tea cannot reach.