81

I’ve always been big on variety. When my grandmother took us to the doughnut shop as a kid, while my sister was always getting the same doughnut, I was looking to try another one of their 50 varieties. Of course, I developed my favorites and rejected what I didn’t like, but if I thought there was a reasonable chance I would like something new, I would try it.

This attitude has continued into my adult life and has expanded geographically in my areas of interest. Ethiopian food? Iranian films? Hot sauce from Trinidad? I’M IN!

Of course this applies to tea as well.

I’ve been wanting to try some African teas (other than Rooibus tisanes) for a bit now. Of course, I do prioritize quality-which is why I could never get excited about trying this GIANT, very cheap, bag of Kenyan CTC I bought in Chicago almost 2 years ago. Besides, it had zero brewing instructions and I was not brave enough to experiment with brewing techniques back then.

Anyhow, Upton had a few African teas and this tea from Malawi intrigued me. Different country? Check. Good reviews? Pretty good on Upton. NOT CTC? Says it’s Broken Orange Pekoe-good enough.

There was a personal reason for picking a tea from Malawi as well. I had a great college professor whose husband was from Malawi. He wasn’t really a refugee, but I think the government at the time was happy to send him off to the States and get him out of the way-those intellectuals can be so pesky. Anyway, I had just read about a positive resolution of a political crisis in Malawi last month. I also learned that they are trying to increase their tea exports. So, I figured it was definitely something to try.

I’ve been having issues with caffeine and reflux lately, and a BOP promised more caffeine than a whole leaf, but I figured it’s better than dust or fannings, right? I opened the package and to my dismay, the broken leaves were pretty much dust and fannings-easily tea baggable (fortunately, my Finum strainer kept my cup completely clean).

So, now I’m worried about max caffeine, but others on Upton mentioned low tannins and I hope that will cancel each other out and I plunge forward. The “leaves” are a mix of light brown and dark brown. The aroma is a pleasant, but rather generic black tea smell. Liquor brews mahogany brown. I wish I could describe the taste better-it is very good. It’s strong, (brisk?) but pretty smooth-no bitterness and I didn’t notice any astringency either. Basically, a general black flavor-but very good quality. Sorry I can’t taste lots of exotic notes. To me, this would be a good breakfast tea-but I would always drink it straight. I have only done one steep. Might try a second one later-caffeine!

I’d love to have this in a full leaf, but there is a good chance I will buy this tea soon again anyway.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
TeaBrat

I’ve been wanting to try some more teas from Africa too…

Azzrian

Haha I never understood people who can stick with the same selection time and time again. Variety is the spice of life!

ScottTeaMan

Scott B-With my limited experience with African teas, many “broken” leaf varieties are closer to CTC-those tiny little pellets. I want to try this one too. Teas from Tanzania are similar to this leaf too (which are also quite delicious!

Scott B

Scott-Indeed, this is closer to CTC-in fact, the leaves are thinner and smaller than the Kenyan CTC I mentioned in my note. Really not much bigger than dust. Disappointing in that respect, but still a good, solid tea.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

People who liked this

Comments

TeaBrat

I’ve been wanting to try some more teas from Africa too…

Azzrian

Haha I never understood people who can stick with the same selection time and time again. Variety is the spice of life!

ScottTeaMan

Scott B-With my limited experience with African teas, many “broken” leaf varieties are closer to CTC-those tiny little pellets. I want to try this one too. Teas from Tanzania are similar to this leaf too (which are also quite delicious!

Scott B

Scott-Indeed, this is closer to CTC-in fact, the leaves are thinner and smaller than the Kenyan CTC I mentioned in my note. Really not much bigger than dust. Disappointing in that respect, but still a good, solid tea.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

Started drinking tea for health benefits maybe 5 years ago-exclusively bagged tea. Usually went for various Celestial Seasonings type of stuff. I bought a tea infuser at a gourmet shop once and then I realized there was almost no loose tea available. Eventually tiring of bags, I started ordering loose tea online and I have never gone back. Initially, I was exploring all the wild and exotic flavor combinations, but now I mostly drink straight teas. I still enjoy blended teas-but prefer those without “flavoring”. Hope to learn here and find some new teas I might not otherwise find. Am a vegan, so “milk” generally means “soymilk” to me. If it’s almond, rice, or coconut, I will mention that fact.

I am new here, and new to reviewing tea. Many of my initial reviews will be from memory and may not be very detailed at all. I hope to write more informative reviews on current and future teas.

I won’t let external factors affect my rating of the tea-such as slow shipping, too expensive, etc. I’ll mention any customer service problems in my reviews. I also won’t let my mistakes in not following the seller’s recommended parameters affect a rating. I can’t believe people who say “I forgot about it and oversteeped it” and then give it a rating. If I brew outside the parameters, I will wait until I brew it right before I give it a rating.

TEMPORARY RATING SYSTEM- Don’t hold me to these numbers and descriptions-like George Bluth, I like to tweak.

90+ It’s awesome, right?? I’ll probably try to keep it on hand.

80-89 – I really like this and will buy it again at some point, but there are so many teas to try!

70-79 – This is a pretty good tea and I may buy it again based on my mood, what tea store I am buying from, and what kind of deal I can get.

60-69 – This is okay. I finished the bag. I would drink it again if offered, but would not buy it again.

40-59 – IF I finished the bag, I recall this tea thinking “Why in the hell did I finish the bag?”

1-39 – Did not finish the bag. Maybe not even the cup. Tea was given away or discarded.

Location

Usa

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer