Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Justea
Tea Description:
Our whole leaf Kenyan black tea is malty, fresh, clean and full bodied.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Justea’s fundraising effort to support Kenyan farmers here.
Taster’s Review:
This Kenyan Black Tea from Justea is AMAZINGLY good. It’s so rich and malty and robust! It’s a strong, full-flavored cuppa deliciousness! And I’ve got to tell you that I really appreciate Justea’s approach to help the Kenyan farmers to develop their farms to be financially stable. Want to read more about that? Here’s an article that was published in a local newspaper about the launching of Justea’s fundraising campaign to help the Kenyan Farmers!
This tea brews to a beautiful coppery color and has a sweet, earthy aroma. The flavor is sweet and molasses-y, with a strong malty note and caramel tones. It is pleasantly sweet and warm with notes of spice and hints of earth. There is a distinct “bake-y” kind of note, like a freshly baked loaf of dark bread (think a sweet squaw bread!) I also taste notes that remind me of dates and dark raisins.
And while it does have a sweet taste to it, I like that it is also bold and rich. It has that gusto that I look for in a morning black tea – this would be an excellent tea to choose for your morning cup of motivation! I’m drinking it served straight up with no additions, but, it would also taste great with milk and honey if you like to add those to your morning cuppa! It would make a great latte!
A truly delightful cup of tea – this is a tea I’d be happy to start my day with every day!
Would you like to try some of this tea? I’ve got three samples to send out to three individuals … if you’re interested, please comment on this post. Please include contact information so that I can contact you and get your shipping information. In addition, please tweet about Justea’s fundraising effort to support Kenyan farmers. Your tweet should include this link, and also please include #sororiteasister on your tweet so that I can easily find the tweet! I’ll select three winners of the samples on Monday, September 23, and contact those winners and ship out the samples to you!
Royal Tea of Kenya Tajiri Black from Grey’s Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Grey’s Teas
Tea Description:
A rare and wonderful orthodox tea from Kenya: Royal Tajiri was planted over fifty years ago on naturally fertile soils at an altitude of 6700 ft in Gatundu District, amongst the foothills of Mount Kenya, alongside the Rundu and Mukengeria rivers. This gorgeous, orthodox, large leaf tea is neatly twisted and has a lovely appley and caramel aroma. In the cup it is deep bronze. It is full bodied, rich and smooth. Brew for four minutes. It may be drunk with milk.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The first thing I noticed with this tea (besides the large, twisted leaves!) was the aroma of the brewed tea – as the description suggests, there is a distinct apple-like note with hints of caramel to the fragrance of this Royal Tea of Kenya Tajiri Black from Grey’s Teas. It smells … irresistible – very autumnal!
As I sip it, I’m wishing I could taste the apple that I enjoyed in scent of the tea, but there are only mere hints of a fruit-like tone. It isn’t as distinctly apple as the aroma. But, that’s not to say that this is not a wonderful tea … it IS. It’s really quite a delicious tea … I just kind of got my hopes up when I smelled that apple.
But there IS a delectable caramel-y tone to this tea that brings a wonderful sweetness to the sip. The tea is rich and robust. I taste hints of a peppery like spice to it … it’s in the distance, but, with every sip, I find myself noticing just a slight hint of that pepper … as if someone ground a peppercorn in the tea when it was brewed. There isn’t enough there to really call this a peppery or a spicy tea … or even a warmly spiced tea … but just this faint, vague whisper of pepper.
There is a fair amount of astringency to this tea, that brings a drying sensation toward the finish and into the aftertaste. The aftertaste is sweet and slightly earthy. Overall, this is a very enjoyable cup of tea – it would make a great first thing in the morning kind of cup … as well as a great way to perk up mid-day when you need a refreshing jolt. I like it served hot – straight up! But … if you want to go a little indulgent … try it with a drizzle of maple syrup. OH my!
White Whisper Tea from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
White Whisper’s long downy silvery green buds have a delicate buttery flavor with light floral and peach notes. This remarkable tea originates from a small scale farm in Kenya and is pesticide free. More extensive information on our Kenyan teas can be found HERE.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I heard about this White Whisper Tea from Butiki Teas – a Kenyan tea – I really wanted to try it! I have really enjoyed the few teas from Kenya that I’ve tried, but most of what I’ve tried thus far have been black teas, and I was really interested to try this White Whisper.
And it is LOVELY! The description that Butiki Teas has provided (and that I’ve included above) is spot-on! This does have a delicate buttery tone to it, not quite as buttery as say, a Chinese Sencha might be, but, there are delightful notes of butter to this that I don’t usually find in a white tea. There are also delicious peach tones. These peach tones did not immediately speak out to me, it took a few sips for the peach to really emerge.
The floral tones are soft and meld beautifully with the peach notes. The one word I’d use to describe this cup is delicate. It has a very soft taste, but it’s really quite enjoyable. I love the subtle qualities of this tea.
And the tea holds up for quite a few infusions. I managed six – each subsequent infusion just as lovely as the first. Different … yes, but still quite delicious. The flavors begin to emerge more with the later infusions, and then become more harmonious.
A really lovely tea! If you’re a white tea fan – you really should try it!
Royal Golden Safari Black Tea from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Our truly exceptional Royal Golden Safari originates from a small scale farm in Kenya and has long golden leaves that mingle with milk chocolate and cacao colored leaves. Toasted walnut and oaky notes are prominent with a light pear undertone. Cocoa notes are also present. This orthodox tea does not contain any pesticides. Our Royal Golden Safari is part of the “Teas 4 Trees” line of teas that pays tribute to Professor Wangari Muta Maathai by donating a portion of profits to environmental initiatives of small-scale tea farmers.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
OH… this Royal Golden Safari black tea from Butiki Teas is absolutely divine!
There is a prominent note of cocoa with a delightful undertone of caramel that dances on the tongue. And yes, the description does not lie: I also taste warm, toasty walnut and a delicious fruity undertone. I also taste notes of spice and oak.
The cup is sweet and so wonderfully complex. I love that with each sip I notice something different. The spiced notes I mentioned before are not what I’d call “spicy” but instead, it’s sort of a gentle warmth that you might liken to the flavor of a sweet potato that has been lightly seasoned with cinnamon. It doesn’t taste of a distinct spice, just that warm sort of flavor that is comforting and cozy.
It comes as no surprise that this would be a really delicious tea – after all, Butiki Teas continually impresses me with their outstanding quality and exceptional tasting tea. This tea is no different – the flavor is amazing and the quality is second to none. They are definitely one of my favorite tea companies for this reason. I highly recommend this one if you’ve not tried it yet!
French Blend from New Mexico Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green Tea Blend
Where to Buy: New Mexico Tea Company
Tea Description:
This French blend has a bright coppery colour, and Ooh-la-la floral notes from ‘crème de la vanille’, Jasmine and Lavender deliciously blended with flavorful Ceylons, pungent Assams and malty Kenyas. Truly a unique and wonderful tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I mentioned in one of my reviews for the 12 Days of Christmas countdown with Della Terra Teas, I also hosted a swap on Steepster using the 12 Days of Christmas theme. Basically, participants were to select a tea that would seem inspired by the lyrics of the song, The 12 Days of Christmas. I got Day 3: Three French Hens, and this is one of three teas that I selected to send out to the participants of this swap. (The participants didn’t have to send more than one tea, I chose three teas for a couple of reasons, 1) I couldn’t narrow down my choices to just one, and 2) since I had day three, I thought three teas just seemed to work within that theme … I sent them three “French” teas.)
And as I mentioned above, this is one of the three teas I selected. I chose this tea for a couple of reasons, first, the tea had a blended base of green and black teas, and since the other two teas I was selecting both had black tea bases, I thought the green tea would offer a bit of variation from the others. Second, I wanted a blend with lavender in it, and this tea has it. Third, I like the fact that there are other floral notes to this tea – specifically, jasmine and rose.
I am really happy with this choice. Since it was both a black and a green tea, I chose a lower water temperature (180°F) and steeped it for three minutes. The first couple of sips were rather astringent, but after allowing the cup to cool a couple of minutes, I found that the astringency waned. There is still some dry astringency to this, but it is actually quite nice, as it seems to cleanse the palate a bit.
This is a beautifully floral tea. It is exotically sweet with the notes of jasmine, rose and lavender, and there is a underlying creaminess to it too thanks to the vanilla tones. The base of black and green teas seems to be a goo choice for this blend, the black tea offers a bit of earthiness and a pleasantly rich flavor with hints of malt and even the faintest wine-like quality, while the green tea lightens the cup a bit so that the black tea doesn’t taste too heavy nor does it overwhelm the flavors of the flowers … or the vanilla for that matter.
A very enjoyable cup. I like the way everything is balanced. I can taste each element of this tea: I taste the black and the green tea, and that doesn’t always happen with blended teas such as this; I taste the vanilla, the jasmine, the rose, and of course, the lavender. These floral elements meld together so nicely, they don’t seem to compete with one another, instead, they work together to create a very luxurious tasting cup … like something you might sip at a French cafe while taking in the scenery.