Monday, June 13, 2016

World of Tea Series: True Teas of Africa

Northwest Tea Festival hosts the World of Tea Series one Saturday of each month. This series offers unique tea tastings and workshops presented by specialists in the industry.

On May 21st, Cinnabar Wright (Phoenix Tea) hosted a tasting of True Teas of Africa, introducing us to a broad range of teas grown and produced in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Rwanda.


Throughout the tasting, Cinnabar shared information about tea production and development in different countries across Africa.  In many countries, tea production is limited to three seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn), so it can be surprising to learn that tea is grown year-round in countries like Kenya.

Among the teas we sampled were examples of purple tea, a type of tea developed over 26 years ago in Kenya.  The name refers to the color of the leaf on the plant and not to the finished product.  

Sindano Fedha (Silver Needle) (Kenya)


Bvumbwe White (Satemwa Estate, Malawi)  


Jani Dhahabu (Golden Leaf) (Kenya)


Green Tea (Kenya)


Purple Hand-Rolled (Kenya)



Rukeri Black (Rukeri Estate, Rwanda)


Black Tea (Luponde Estate, Tanzania)


Rundu Black Tea (Kenya)


Dark Tea (Satemwa Estate, Malawi)
Post-fermented similar to pu-erh.


Black Orthodox OF (Orange Flowery) (Kenya)


In addition to the teas we tasted, we examined many more examples of African teas.


Purple Orthodox (Kenya)


Oolong (Kenya)


Oolong (Kenya)


Green (Kenya)


CTC Green Tea (Kenya)


Purple Hand-Rolled (Kenya)


Nandi Chai
Blend of Kenyan Black & Purple Tea with Ethiopian Spices


Kila Siku CTC (Kenya)


Hand-rolled Black (Kenya)


Thanks to Northwest Tea Festival and especially to Cinnabar for making this comprehensive and informative tasting event possible!

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