MAJANI

The drink tastes a bit malty at the start, like an assam black tea, but then transitions to this incredibly sweet honey brown sugar finish that tastes EXACTLY like the black milk bubble tea I make at home. Due to this, I am 100% addicted to drinking this tea and find myself reaching for a cup of it constantly! Instant bubble tea? Pshhh yes please! I haven’t actually used it to make bubble tea yet, but I can only imagine that when I do, the heavens will open and awesome trumpet music will pour forth from the clouds and it will rains kittens and puppies. It’s going to be THAT awesome. :D I’ve never had the pleasure of enjoying a straight oolong tea with a taste profile as unique as this! I only wish that Majani offered a more “full leaf” version of the blend, but if changing the production of the tea would diminish the awesome brown sugar flavor in any way, I’ll happily stick to the broken leaf version. Absolutely delicious!!

Sip down sample! This one’s from Kasumi no Chagin.

I got 4 rounds with a gaiwan on this black. First 2 infusions were really good! Had an interesting sweetness and fruity (grapey raisin?) going on that I wasn’t expecting. However, steeping 3 it started getting bitter and steeping 4 was full out bitter.

I find the bird logo on these Majani teas quite attractive!

Trying to get the hang of my gaiwan. After my first experience (that I’ll blog about later) my gaiwan skillz got better. Today I’m just accident prone. I knocked over my cookie batter bowl, then the electric hand mixer. I missed chucking my tea leaves into my compost pail, so there’s red hibiscus tea splotches on my tile. Probably not a day to gaiwan, but I’m stubborn.

I got 3 runs so far, twice burning my fingers and one spilling accident. Of course, I just cleaned the kitchen this morning, but now its got cookie dough and tea all over the floor and counter!

First two quick steepings of this black was pretty good – rich, bold and a little caramel like. 3rd round my cup is now astringent, but still good.

Though, this tea goes well with my cookies!
http://www.culinate.com/content/1682/Chinese+Five-Spice+Cookies
I wish my cookies were pretty, I just sliced them. Knowing my luck today, I would of cut myself with the cookie cutter.

TY Kasumi no Chagin for the sample!

Sipdown, 229. Thanks to Kasumi no Chajin for a sample of this tea! Awww, African Pygmy Kingfisher (this tea’s featured bird), you are adorable.

A Kenyan oolong sounded really intriguing to me. Even though I typically am not big on dark oolongs, I wanted to try this one just to try it… you don’t see many Kenyan oolongs! Even as an oolong the leaf on this one was pretty small pieces. Steeped up it smells pretty interesting. There are some malty black-teaish notes there, but also a lightly fruity floral scent.

Aww, too bad that I apparently should have followed my gut upon seeing the CTC-ness of the leaf and steeped it a shorter time. These steeping parameters are for the company, but Kenyans seem to have a very different idea than me about what makes a tasty cup of tea. I can tell there are nice notes in there—stone fruit, nuttiness, sweetness—but they are mostly drowned out by the bitterness of oversteeping. Oh well, guess I should have trusted my tea instincts.

Really enjoyed this sample from Kasumi no Chagin, worth lingering over. This is neither a dark, oxidized oolong nor a fresh, green, floral oolong. It’s silky smooth, soft and round and … apricot. Apricot with a hint of assam from the nose through the long finish. The finish is slightly tannic on the second steep, though that may have been a little operator error oversteeping, not sure about that.

I am always seeking teas that inherently taste fruity (or chocolate/caramel/floral-y) without actually being flavored, and this is the most apricot I’ve tasted in that category. Smile-worthy tea sipping on this one!

Sipdown, 239. This sample comes to me thanks to Kasumi no Chajin! Pretty sure this is the first white tea from Africa that I have ever tried.

The leaf on this is long, fuzzy white tea leaves that are whole and thus difficult to meaure out with a teaspoon. I think I used more leaf than usual for a western-style brew, but it didn’t seem to be over steeping after 2 minutes so I went the full three. It’s still a very pale yellow, and smells fruity and a little nutty, even. The flavor is light, and I probably could have steeped it even longer, but it is still quite lovely as is. Possibly my favorite non-jasmine white that I’ve ever tried! It is so sweet on its own, and I agree with apricots as the fruit that it most reminds me of. The flavors are tantalizing, and keep you sipping again and again so that they build in your mouth. A really impressive tea!

Love this tea! I am used to Asian green teas, so I was not sure about it before I tried. This tea is aromatic and yet sweet. Love the buttery taste of green tea and it’s sweet. My most favorite green tea.

It is surprisingly good! Very bold and aromatic. While it is bold, it has sweet aroma. I like taking it without milk or sugar. Love it with ice, too. Also, it is unbelievably good deal$ compared to other quality Kenyan teas on market. Highly recommended.

Thanks, Kasumi no Chagin for sending this – trying a new tea that I enjoy is like a friend showing up in a convertible in early spring and shouting “let’s go!” and you just drive anywhere for the experience, fun. That’s what comes to mind as I sit back with my 2nd cup :)

Gentle boldness. Caramelized tobacco. Smooth. Astringency on the finish but here the astringency was part of the enjoyment, tempered by the long finish of the flavor profile, so was an integrated part of the tea’s character.

On edit, the astringency outlasted the flavor finish … a few long red lights on the way home from the joyride.

Sipdown, 243. This is another sample from Majani that I have thanks to Kasumi no Chajin!

After my experience with the Thabiti black (it was a bit too robust for my tastes), I steeped this one cooler and shorter. Still, the steeped tea smells strong and full-bodied. Woof, this is strong! Too strong and bitter for me. This needs milk and sugar (and many Kenyan teas are basically designed to be taken with milk and sugar), but I unfortunately have none. This type of tea is really not my type, although it is likely a good example of it’s type. Glad to try it out, though.

A good cuppa, thanks Kasumi no Chagin! And taking the cue from Dinosara I brewed this at a lower temp and didn’t get any bitterness, though there’s a touch of tannin.

Smooth, clean, honest and I’d even put it in the category of a comfort tea, in the sense that you can just settle in with it and enjoy its well-balanced and mildly sweet flavors. I don’t mind assam, but there’s something too assamy about an assam; this tea has hints of assam, at the ideal subtlety level, perfectly balanced by apricot and a little malt.

Steepster, you are killing me this afternoon! You only load like every other page.

Anyway, sipdown, 261. This is a sample thanks to Kasumi no Chajin!

I continue to be enthralled by these Kenyan teas. A Kenyan green is particularly interesting because almost all the tea you see coming out of there is black. Steeped up, this tea definitely smelled buttery and nutty, with a bit of grassiness to it as well (but not too much). The flavor was initially lackluster but it built on my palate as I drank it and is now pretty delicious. I particularly like the aftertaste of lilacs… the tea itself is not floral at all, but then a few moments after swallowing the sensation of lilacs fills my mouth and nose. Delightful. Not sure that I would rebuy this one based soley on this tasting, but it is very pleasant and a lovely tea to drink.

I got a sample of this tea from Kasumi no Chajin, thanks so much for sending it along!

I’m not going to lie, I requested a sample of this tea first because each tea has a cute bird assigned to it. This one is the Red and Yellow Barbet (they even list them on their website!). Secondly, it was a Kenyan tea and I have almost no experience with African teas. Despite the fact that I was IN Kenya last summer, but it’s one of those situations where the tea you get served is CTC teabags, and it takes a unique tea company to export really high grade stuff. Third, the description of this tea sounded delicious!

The steeped tea smells really tasty, with definite notes of molasses, chocolate, and raisins. I have to say, even though I knocked off a minute off their suggested steeping parameters, this tea is still a touch too “robust” for my taste. I should have expected it… East Africans like their tea very robust. It edges on bitterness, which I think could be avoided by steeping it at a slightly lower temp or for a shorter time. Otherwise, though, the flavor is very good. It reminds me of a Fujian tea, almost, which is awesome. There are hints of grain and a good helping of honey notes. I wish I could brew this one again at a lower temp, but I do like it enough that if I fall in love with any of the other Majani teas, I would consider putting some of this on the order.

Dry leaves: The needles are slender and slightly green with very fine hairs. They have a very nice apricot-like aroma

Tasting: This tea is very crisp, mellow, and sweet! The taste is mildly fruity with flavors of apricot, honey, and a slight marine sea breeze salinity. While its definitely silver needle, its noticeably different from its Chinese counterparts.

Thanks Kasumi!