Quality African Teas?

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Jan 30th, '13, 17:27
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Quality African Teas?

by hopeofdawn » Jan 30th, '13, 17:27

Was wondering if anyone else on the board had ever tried any quality (i.e. not the mass market bagged stuff) teas from Africa? I just tried a white tea called White Antlers, from a Malawi plantation, and it was *amazing*--probably one of the most unique-tasting white teas I've ever had. And it lasted for an long time, too--I was getting 4-5 strong brews off of it easily. The downside being that it's a specialty product, and really expensive.

Anyway, it's made me curious about what other hidden tea-treasures from Africa might be lurking out there--any recommendations?

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Jan 30th, '13, 17:36
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Re: Quality African Teas?

by Chip » Jan 30th, '13, 17:36

Where did you purchase it?

African teas are coming along. They used to be almost all CTC or BOP or worse and used in blending for the larger brands/mass market ... and to me all seemingly tasting somewhere between a Ceylon and an Assam, neither of which I am particularly fond of.

Thus ... and unfortunately, I did not take advantage of the opportunity to sample the lots and lots of African teas that were well represented at the WorldTeaExpo.

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Jan 31st, '13, 08:10
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Re: Quality African Teas?

by Neist » Jan 31st, '13, 08:10

By chance is it the Rare Tea Company one?

I've been wanting to try it, but wasn't sure if it was worth the price. Nice that it sounds good though. :)

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Jan 31st, '13, 10:31
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Re: Quality African Teas?

by hopeofdawn » Jan 31st, '13, 10:31

I believe that's the same tea--there only seems to be one plantation that produces it, near as I can tell, anyway. I got mine through a local tea shop--Phoenix Tea, in Buren, WA-- http://phoenix-teashop.com/store/en/. Not much cheaper, price-wise, but at least I wasn't getting hit with the pound-to-dollar conversion rates plus shipping. :shock: If you're in the UK, though, Rare Teas is probably a lot more reasonable.

If you like white teas, I would definitely recommend this one. It's very much a white, with a very silky taste, but it has a really unique mouthfeel to it--the best way I can describe the taste is that its almost champagne-like around the edges. Plus I've never seen a tea made entirely of new sprouts before, with no leaves--the results are pretty interesting!

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Jan 31st, '13, 12:00
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Re: Quality African Teas?

by Neist » Jan 31st, '13, 12:00

Slightly off topic while being on topic..

Phoenix Tea Shop has purple tea? That's kind of neat. :P Looks like a nice little shop. I might have to try an order from them sometime.

Jan 31st, '13, 22:13
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Re: Quality African Teas?

by mbanu » Jan 31st, '13, 22:13

If you like Assam teas or Fujian congous, you might appreciate the tea from the Tinderet estate in Kenya. They are doing some very interesting things with their black teas.

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