Satemwa Tea Estates

Lucky enough to have friends bring me some of this tea directly from Satemwa Tea Estates (not through a redistributor), and immediately one is struck by the vibrant reddish colors of the leaves and their robust, lively aromas. Even more surprising was the brewed cup itself – startlingly dark (at 5 minutes’ steep time, black as coffee), and upon adding milk one notices a subtle chocolate coloring to the tea, quite unlike any other. The final surprise is the taste of the tea itself – remarkably rich, smooth, with a definite undertone of cocoa (much like many coffees), and like its cousin Chombe tea, has a refreshing sweet finish that is extremely pleasing. A welcome addition to our tea cabinet and definitely one of the finds of the year for us, and we’re very excited to be sharing it with our customers during the upcoming cold months. If you can get your hands on this, and you also like coffee or cocoa, highly recommended!