Do keep us informed. The problem about the Silver Needles is that they
rest on very selective tea plucking by hand and the oolongs on very
skilled processing. Kenya is moving in the opposite direction. The tea
pickers union recently lost a major court case trying to block the
introduction of harvesting machines that will eliminate 150,000 jobs
(If I recall correctly, James Finlay is the company pushing them.) The
union pointed out that the government had promised to create 50,000
new jobs. The industry is the world's #1 exporter but prices are
dropping and competition from Malawi and Vietnam increasing. If Kenya
is moving into elite white/oolong production, it's definitely an
interesting development. Has anyone on RFDT actually drank one of
them? I vcan't find a single reference to them on Yahoo and can't
locate any supplier.

Re Shimba Hills, I live in Northern Virginia so an definitely
interested in hearing your rating of it.


On Apr 10, 7:30 pm, wrote:
> On Apr 11, 12:30 am, "pgwk" > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > It's the silver needles and oolongs that puzzle me. I don't see these
> > on their site -- they do have the Milima, which I would expect, but
> > the other products are flavored blacks. Is it my ignorance, perhaps?
> > I've never come across Kenya white, let alone a silver needle. Nor do
> > I know of Kenya oolongs.
>
> > On Apr 10, 5:41 pm, Lewis Perin > wrote:
>
> > > "Gtips" > writes:
> > > > Nothing dubious here.I ordered the teas and coffee's fromwww.kisiicafe.com
> > > > The coffee shop was called Shimba Hills Coffee/Cafe which is at the
> > > > Verizon Center.
> > > > I am aware of the estates you mentioned and those teas are widely
> > > > available i.e. Milima by James Finlay Tea company.
> > > > and yes I know all loose tea is natural and free of additives but have
> > > > you walked down the grocery isle lately? One would wonder why the
> > > > artificial flavored stuff
> > > > is being bought by the bucket load; probably because it tastes
> > > > like ..... without the articial flavor
>
> > > Uh, I just visitedwww.kisiicafe.com, only to find that most of their
> > > teas *are* flavored.
>
> > > /Lew
> > > ---
> > > Lew Perin /
>
> Hi all,
>
> While I was in Africa someone told me Kenya is trying to produce white
> silver needle and Oolong. I met this Kenyan tea exporter in Zimbabwe.
> He was coming from UK after wining a huge contract with Harrods
> (according to him). I was very curious and gave him my detail so we
> can communicate with each other in the future. He never replied my
> messages. I don't know what to think.
>
> Now after reading this post I am curious again to contact some friends
> in Kenya. I never had Kenyan white or Oolong tea. While I was in
> Africa I got a lot of news from different people how Kenya was trying
> to attract foreign investment in tea sector. If they process the tea
> leaf properly I believe the white tea will be more exotic than Chinese
> silver needle. Why I am so confident? Chinese silver needle is very
> light and popular for her sweet, slight buttery flavor( good silver
> needle of course, not the silver needle me and Lew saw in NY Chinese
> market). Kenyan tea estates are from higher altitudes, the volcanic
> soil always release a slight salty, full bodied mocha-caramel flavor.
> Kenyan silver needle will be more round flavored and thickness in
> taste.
>
> I am going to DuPont Circle this week where the Shimba Cafe is. Lets
> see if I can find some information from them.
>
> Gtips could you please provide me more detail about the location?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ripon
> Arlington, VA- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -