Satemwa apart I know of no other Malawi estates making green or
orthodox teas. Most of Malawi's teas are black teas destined for tea
bags, and are mostly made by the LTP process (Lawrie Tea Processor)
rather than CTC (Crush, Tear & Curl), though to the casual oberver the
final result is very similar - fine brown granules. The Primary
Grades produced are BOP1, PF, PD and D1. Malawi is seasonal unlike
Kenya, and in some places irrigation is used; most of the tea bushes
are Assamica cultivars selected for black tea production in Africa.
The LTP black tea is typically very red and strong but without the
character of a good Kenya so the trade rather uses Malawi teas as
fillers in a blend rather than selling it as named estate originals.
Consequently and being brought up with this stereotype I was amazed to
find that when hand manufactured it was possible to get White Tea
quality in Africa and in Malawi particularly.

Nigel at Teacraft


On Apr 12, 8:09 pm, "Gregg Lyne" > wrote:

> Nigel,
>
> Other than the white teas you've mentioned, the teas I've found from Malawi
> are mostly billed as Malawi Orange Pekoe BOP. Upton does have a Chisunga
> Estate BOP The main market appears to be blends for England and Ireland,
> but are there any estates making orthodox black teas or green teas?
>
> Thanks,
> Blues- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -