It seems in the world of food and drink things are changing, the provenance, the experience and the way in things our consumables are cultivated is becoming a source of hot discussion. We can only champion this as tea farmers, because to us and our customers tea isn’t “just tea”. Kenyan tea is widely considered some of the best in the world because of their distinctive taste, quality and characteristics.
Tea’s taste and colour is traditionally described as it’s liquor. Kenyan tea has a distinct amber brownish colour and what is described as a “brisk”, “full bodied” flavor. This refers to a robust flavor that can stand up well with milk, as tea is often drunk in the UK. Kenyan tea creates a richer infusion than poorer quality tea which can leave you with a light or weak cup of tea.
These individual tastes are created by the climate. Kenya’s rich, deep reddish soil has a high mineral content and creates fertile land for the tea bushes to thrive. The high altitude of the sweeping ridges where the tea is farmed also means that Kenyan tea has also been contributed to Kenyan tea having a higher antioxidant content than others.
Plucking is an important part of the farming process as the young tea leaves and bud are soft and downy. Damaging them through heavy handed collection can be detrimental to the taste of the final product. So the bright, green leaves are gathered carefully and then dried and cut to create tea for teabags and loose consumption.
Our tea comes directly from our farms meaning that it is not blending with other teas from around the world. Tea can be manipulated by mechanical and chemical processes to taste certain ways. But tea is, and should always be, a natural product. Grown, harvested and dried by farmers and tasting of the flavor of the land.
