100g Malawi Green Tea

Full flavored tea minus the vegetative notes typical of Eastern greens. Excellent cup with light astringency.

Luxury Ingredients: Green tea

Small Batch Blended and Packed in: Canada

Tea(s) From: Malawi

Region(s): Mulanje

Antioxidant Level: Ultra High 

Caffeine Content: Low 

Had you heard of Malawian tea  before picking up our catalogue or speaking to one of our knowledgeable,  funny and may we say charming salespeople?  (Hey, we like to promote  our people, what can we say.)  If the answer was "no", don't feel too  badly, you aren't alone.  What most people know of African tea comes  from Kenya, a country that over the years has developed a reputation as  the "Tuscany of Tea".  The reputation is well deserved.  Kenya's tea  country features rolling hills, spectacularly beautiful vistas and vast  swaths of immaculately groomed tea estates producing some of the finest  teas in the world - it's truly spectacular.  So it's no surprise that  travellers flock to Kenya's estates to sip, slurp and sample garden  fresh tea, nor is it surprising that Kenyans consistently fetch such  high prices at auction - the country has a good name.  

So why  has nobody heard of Malawi's teas?  The short answer is.branding.  Kenya  didn't develop its reputation overnight.  It took years of branding and  marketing on the part of the Tea Board of Kenya for the country's teas  to be looked at seriously in the tea-drinking world.  Unfortunately, in  Malawi such a marketing push has never taken place. So what gives?   Well, there are a number of factors to consider.  For one, Malawi is  landlocked, meaning that it is much harder for teas to make it to market  - so, there is simply less of it around.  Another reason may be the  history of political instability in the country.  Over the years  politics, sadly, have played a part in slowing down economic endeavors  in the country

The irony of the situation (the delicious irony  you might say, since we're talking tea,) is that Malawi is seen by many  as the birthplace of African tea.  Depending on whom you talk to, tea  was planted in Malawi before Kenya.   As well, it isn't as though Malawi  doesn't have the romance or history associated with Kenya.  As a small  example, the country's first major European contact was with David  Livingstone, of "Dr. Livingstone I presume," fame on the north shore of  Lake Malawi in 1859 - it's a very historic place.  Most importantly, it  isn't as though fabulous teas aren't produced in Malawi.  Take this  Satemwa Zomba Estate Dryer Mouth Green for example.  This unbelievably  smooth green with its mellow notes of honey is on par with the finest  greens made in Kenya, or China, or Japan for that matter.  Buy Malawi  tea!  We're happy to help get the word out there.  Tell everyone you  know.