Newsflash!! For all the tea purveyors and novices, a new tea product
from Kenya sold under Kisii Cafe has just hit the American market. I
recently had an opportunity to taste some Kenya white Silver needle,
Kenya Oolong and a variety of other Kenyan orthodox teas. First
impression> smooth, fruity with a hint of maple syrup; in other words
excellent teas all around.(would include it in my "caffeine fix" for
the day). I went to a small cafe in Washington DC near the Verizon
Center and had a "cuppa" and then ordered some for myself online. The
tea has such a floral aroma considering it is a "natural black" with
no artificial flavors. Luckily for me, the tea company out of NC was
having a promotion and sent me a sample of their entire line.
Wonderful folks, a wonderful tea line and hope to see it in my local
grocery store.

Gtips

This sounds very dubious. Who did you order it from online? Which
small cafe near the Verizon Center did you get some from (Teaism?).

Kenya white silver needle and oolong? There are no references to these
on Yahoo. Kenya's industry is black CTC- and export-driven, with to my
knowledge only two estate teas (Marinyn, Malima (sp.?). Is the tea
company out of NC by any chance Constant Cumming? How and when did
Kisii, which is a region in Kenya, build its tea master capabilities
and shift to hand-plucking, which is the only way Silver Needle can be
produced, at a time when it is increasing mechanization everywhere?
Didn't you know that all whole leaf tea is natural and has no
additives?

Tell us more. Be specific. Who did you buy it from?

On Apr 10, 2:18 pm, "Gtips" > wrote:
> Newsflash!! For all the tea purveyors and novices, a new tea product
> from Kenya sold under Kisii Cafe has just hit the American market. I
> recently had an opportunity to taste some Kenya white Silver needle,
> Kenya Oolong and a variety of other Kenyan orthodox teas. First
> impression> smooth, fruity with a hint of maple syrup; in other words
> excellent teas all around.(would include it in my "caffeine fix" for
> the day). I went to a small cafe in Washington DC near the Verizon
> Center and had a "cuppa" and then ordered some for myself online. The
> tea has such a floral aroma considering it is a "natural black" with
> no artificial flavors. Luckily for me, the tea company out of NC was
> having a promotion and sent me a sample of their entire line.
> Wonderful folks, a wonderful tea line and hope to see it in my local
> grocery store.
>
> Gtips

Nothing dubious here.I ordered the teas and coffee's from www.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


On Apr 10, 10:15 pm, "pgwk" > wrote:
> This sounds very dubious. Who did you order it from online? Which
> small cafe near the Verizon Center did you get some from (Teaism?).
>
> Kenya white silver needle and oolong? There are no references to these
> on Yahoo. Kenya's industry is black CTC- and export-driven, with to my
> knowledge only two estate teas (Marinyn, Malima (sp.?). Is the tea
> company out of NC by any chance Constant Cumming? How and when did
> Kisii, which is a region in Kenya, build its tea master capabilities
> and shift to hand-plucking, which is the only way Silver Needle can be
> produced, at a time when it is increasing mechanization everywhere?
> Didn't you know that all whole leaf tea is natural and has no
> additives?
>
> Tell us more. Be specific. Who did you buy it from?
>
> On Apr 10, 2:18 pm, "Gtips" > wrote:
>
>
>
> > Newsflash!! For all the tea purveyors and novices, a new tea product
> > from Kenya sold under Kisii Cafe has just hit the American market. I
> > recently had an opportunity to taste some Kenya white Silver needle,
> > Kenya Oolong and a variety of other Kenyan orthodox teas. First
> > impression> smooth, fruity with a hint of maple syrup; in other words
> > excellent teas all around.(would include it in my "caffeine fix" for
> > the day). I went to a small cafe in Washington DC near the Verizon
> > Center and had a "cuppa" and then ordered some for myself online. The
> > tea has such a floral aroma considering it is a "natural black" with
> > no artificial flavors. Luckily for me, the tea company out of NC was
> > having a promotion and sent me a sample of their entire line.
> > Wonderful folks, a wonderful tea line and hope to see it in my local
> > grocery store.
>
> > Gtips- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

"Gtips" > writes:

> Nothing dubious here.I ordered the teas and coffee's from www.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 visited www.kisiicafe.com, only to find that most of their
teas *are* flavored.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

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 /

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

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 -

White Tea from Africa is really old news. For a year Nothing But Tea
< www.nbtea.net > has been selling African White Tea - Silver Needles
and Peony - produced by hand in Malawi (hand plucked buds, hand
withered with care and attention, and hand dried over three days, then
hand sorted to ensure uniformity and quality). These tea have been
available in six varieties on the website and wholesale since 2006. I
will be showing them all and some hand rolled Malawi Oolongs at World
Tea Expo at Atlanta in June where we will also be showing for the
first time our latest African White Tea creation - Antlers d'Amour -
tender velvety white tea stems with an amazing floral bouquet on the
infusion (it has to be experienced to believe that this came Out of
Africa).

However, as we have shown, White Teas can be made in Africa extremely
well, and with attractive improvement over the traditional sources.


On Apr 10, 8:15 pm, "pgwk" > wrote:
> Kenya white silver needle and oolong? There are no references to these
> on Yahoo. Kenya's industry is black CTC- and export-driven,

> How and when did Kisii, which is a region in Kenya, build its tea master capabilities
> and shift to hand-plucking, which is the only way Silver Needle can be
> produced, at a time when it is increasing mechanization everywhere?
> Didn't you know that all whole leaf tea is natural and has no
> additives?

"Nigel" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> White Tea from Africa is really old news. For a year Nothing But Tea
> < www.nbtea.net > has been selling African White Tea - Silver Needles
> and Peony - produced by hand in Malawi (hand plucked buds, hand
> withered with care and attention, and hand dried over three days, then
> hand sorted to ensure uniformity and quality). These tea have been
> available in six varieties on the website and wholesale since 2006. I
> will be showing them all and some hand rolled Malawi Oolongs at World
> Tea Expo at Atlanta in June where we will also be showing for the
> first time our latest African White Tea creation - Antlers d'Amour -
> tender velvety white tea stems with an amazing floral bouquet on the
> infusion (it has to be experienced to believe that this came Out of
> Africa).
>
> However, as we have shown, White Teas can be made in Africa extremely
> well, and with attractive improvement over the traditional sources.
>

Nigel,

Thanks for the info. My pastor was recently doing some work in Malawi.
Knowing I love tea, he brought back a bunch of pictures of the tea fields.
He said some of his contacts there had connections to the tea industry and
could probably get me some, if I knew what I wanted. I've been doing some
online research, but so far was only able to find BOP from Malawi. It's
good to know there is other options as well.

Blues

On Apr 11, 3:47 am, "Nigel" > wrote:
> White Tea from Africa is really old news. For a year Nothing But Tea
> <www.nbtea.net> has been selling African White Tea - Silver Needles
> and Peony - produced by hand in Malawi (hand plucked buds, hand
> withered with care and attention, and hand dried over three days, then
> hand sorted to ensure uniformity and quality). These tea have been
> available in six varieties on the website and wholesale since 2006. I
> will be showing them all and some hand rolled Malawi Oolongs at World
> Tea Expo at Atlanta in June where we will also be showing for the
> first time our latest African White Tea creation - Antlers d'Amour -
> tender velvety white tea stems with an amazing floral bouquet on the
> infusion (it has to be experienced to believe that this came Out of
> Africa).
>
> However, as we have shown, White Teas can be made in Africa extremely
> well, and with attractive improvement over the traditional sources.
>
I checked the nbtea web site you listed; zero evidence of the African
whites and oolongs. Can you be more specific, please. There is not a
single example on the Web of a Malawi or Kenyan silver needle or
oolong and the two sites that you and another RFDT discussant claim as
selling them don't list even one. Sorry, but I sense a scam of some
sort. Give us the exact link to locate the teas you say are being sold
by nbtea.

> On Apr 10, 8:15 pm, "pgwk" > wrote:
>
>
>
> > Kenya white silver needle and oolong? There are no references to these
> > on Yahoo. Kenya's industry is black CTC- and export-driven,
> > How and when did Kisii, which is a region in Kenya, build its tea master capabilities
> > and shift to hand-plucking, which is the only way Silver Needle can be
> > produced, at a time when it is increasing mechanization everywhere?
> > Didn't you know that all whole leaf tea is natural and has no
> > additives?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

"pgwk" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> On Apr 11, 3:47 am, "Nigel" > wrote:
>> White Tea from Africa is really old news. For a year Nothing But Tea
>> <www.nbtea.net> has been selling African White Tea - Silver Needles
>> and Peony - produced by hand in Malawi (hand plucked buds, hand
>> withered with care and attention, and hand dried over three days, then
>> hand sorted to ensure uniformity and quality). These tea have been
>> available in six varieties on the website and wholesale since 2006. I
>> will be showing them all and some hand rolled Malawi Oolongs at World
>> Tea Expo at Atlanta in June where we will also be showing for the
>> first time our latest African White Tea creation - Antlers d'Amour -
>> tender velvety white tea stems with an amazing floral bouquet on the
>> infusion (it has to be experienced to believe that this came Out of
>> Africa).
>>
>> However, as we have shown, White Teas can be made in Africa extremely
>> well, and with attractive improvement over the traditional sources.
>>
> I checked the nbtea web site you listed; zero evidence of the African
> whites and oolongs. Can you be more specific, please. There is not a
> single example on the Web of a Malawi or Kenyan silver needle or
> oolong and the two sites that you and another RFDT discussant claim as
> selling them don't list even one. Sorry, but I sense a scam of some
> sort. Give us the exact link to locate the teas you say are being sold
> by nbtea.
>

I have to disagree with your post. There are six examples of Malawi white
teas on the site. They are the last six teas listed under White Teas. They
are also listed under Wildcrafted Teas (again, the last six teas listed). I
didn't see any oolong, but then Nigel doesn't mention any African oolongs
from that site. He only spoke about white teas.

Blues

On Apr 12, 12:36 am, "pgwk" > wrote:
> On Apr 11, 3:47 am, "Nigel" > wrote:
>
>
>
> > White Tea from Africa is really old news. For a year Nothing But Tea
> > <www.nbtea.net> has been selling African White Tea - Silver Needles
> > and Peony - produced by hand in Malawi (hand plucked buds, hand
> > withered with care and attention, and hand dried over three days, then
> > hand sorted to ensure uniformity and quality). These tea have been
> > available in six varieties on the website and wholesale since 2006. I
> > will be showing them all and some hand rolled Malawi Oolongs at World
> > Tea Expo at Atlanta in June where we will also be showing for the
> > first time our latest African White Tea creation - Antlers d'Amour -
> > tender velvety white tea stems with an amazing floral bouquet on the
> > infusion (it has to be experienced to believe that this came Out of
> > Africa).
>
> > However, as we have shown, White Teas can be made in Africa extremely
> > well, and with attractive improvement over the traditional sources.
>
> I checked the nbtea web site you listed; zero evidence of the African
> whites and oolongs. Can you be more specific, please. There is not a
> single example on the Web of a Malawi or Kenyan silver needle or
> oolong and the two sites that you and another RFDT discussant claim as
> selling them don't list even one. Sorry, but I sense a scam of some
> sort. Give us the exact link to locate the teas you say are being sold
> by nbtea.
>

No scam, at least not for the Malawi hand crafted teas that I have
assisted in developing. The presence of six Malawi white teas on
Nothing But tea site has already been dealt with by Blue - see
http://www.nbtea.co.uk/acatalog/Wildcrafted_Teas.html But it helps
to use a site's Search Box if you fail to navigate. On Google try
"African White Teas" = 4 hits, and "Malawi White Teas" = 5 hits. You
will need to use the quotes for specific searching.

Nigel at Teacraft

pgwk wrote:
> On Apr 11, 3:47 am, "Nigel" > wrote:
>> ... For a year Nothing But Tea <www.nbtea.net> has been selling
>> African White Tea - Silver Needles and Peony ...
> ... There is not a single example on the Web of a Malawi or Kenyan
> silver needle or oolong and the two sites that you and another RFDT
> discussant claim as selling them don't list even one. Sorry, but I
> sense a scam of some sort.

Nigel posts far too infrequently for the value of his information, so
might not be a familiar name. But a quick scan of archived posts or of
the Teacraft site would make it obvious that he cannot possibly be a
scammer. We do get plenty of those here; let's keep the powder (matcha?)
dry for when we really need it.

-DM

On Apr 12, 2:57 am, "Nigel" > wrote:
> On Apr 12, 12:36 am, "pgwk" > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Apr 11, 3:47 am, "Nigel" > wrote:
>
> > > White Tea from Africa is really old news. For a year Nothing But Tea
> > > <www.nbtea.net> has been selling African White Tea - Silver Needles
> > > and Peony - produced by hand in Malawi (hand plucked buds, hand
> > > withered with care and attention, and hand dried over three days, then
> > > hand sorted to ensure uniformity and quality). These tea have been
> > > available in six varieties on the website and wholesale since 2006. I
> > > will be showing them all and some hand rolled Malawi Oolongs at World
> > > Tea Expo at Atlanta in June where we will also be showing for the
> > > first time our latest African White Tea creation - Antlers d'Amour -
> > > tender velvety white tea stems with an amazing floral bouquet on the
> > > infusion (it has to be experienced to believe that this came Out of
> > > Africa).
>
> > > However, as we have shown, White Teas can be made in Africa extremely
> > > well, and with attractive improvement over the traditional sources.
>
> > I checked the nbtea web site you listed; zero evidence of the African
> > whites and oolongs. Can you be more specific, please. There is not a
> > single example on the Web of a Malawi or Kenyan silver needle or
> > oolong and the two sites that you and another RFDT discussant claim as
> > selling them don't list even one. Sorry, but I sense a scam of some
Many thanks..... This puts my mind at ease. Maybe it's just old age
creeping in but I misnavigated nbtea's web site; it is not intuitive
in its design.

How many estates are producing these whites and at what elevations and
in what quantities? Is there enough momentum and scale for them to
become a serious player in the great teas market or are they just
small niche producers?

> > sort. Give us the exact link to locate the teas you say are being sold
> > by nbtea.
>
> No scam, at least not for the Malawi hand crafted teas that I have
> assisted in developing. The presence of six Malawi white teas on
> Nothing But tea site has already been dealt with by Blue - seehttp://www.nbtea.co.uk/acatalog/Wildcrafted_Teas.html But it helps
> to use a site's Search Box if you fail to navigate. On Google try
> "African White Teas" = 4 hits, and "Malawi White Teas" = 5 hits. You
> will need to use the quotes for specific searching.
>
> Nigel at Teacraft- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I don't believe that any serious white tea producer can ever be
anything but a niche player - to remove white tea from its niche
status will destroy it. Millions of kilograms of "white tea" being
sold inexpensively in tea bags and in mango flavored RTD says to me
that they are using a different white tea to the sort I recognise as
fitting the description.
My Malawi whites are hand made and could not be sold at tea bag
price. We are making them on one estate - Satemwa - the oldest estate
in Malawi and in the same family ownership for three generations. It
is ethically run and FairTrade. It was first planted up in 1923 and
is located in the Shire Highlands near Mt Thyolo and produces mainly
black teas - the leaf is grown on the estate at around 3,000 feet in
good clean air and extra leaf is bought in from small farmers. White
teas and soon some Oolongs are a new venture - see
http://www.satemwa.com/articles/White_Teas~3

Nigel at Teacraft


On Apr 12, 1:52 pm, "pgwk" > wrote:

>
> How many estates are producing these whites and at what elevations and
> in what quantities? Is there enough momentum and scale for them to
> become a serious player in the great teas market or are they just
> small niche producers?
>
>
>

"Nigel" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I don't believe that any serious white tea producer can ever be
> anything but a niche player - to remove white tea from its niche
> status will destroy it. Millions of kilograms of "white tea" being
> sold inexpensively in tea bags and in mango flavored RTD says to me
> that they are using a different white tea to the sort I recognise as
> fitting the description.
> My Malawi whites are hand made and could not be sold at tea bag
> price. We are making them on one estate - Satemwa - the oldest estate
> in Malawi and in the same family ownership for three generations. It
> is ethically run and FairTrade. It was first planted up in 1923 and
> is located in the Shire Highlands near Mt Thyolo and produces mainly
> black teas - the leaf is grown on the estate at around 3,000 feet in
> good clean air and extra leaf is bought in from small farmers. White
> teas and soon some Oolongs are a new venture - see
> http://www.satemwa.com/articles/White_Teas~3
>
> Nigel at Teacraft
>

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

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 -

Gregg Lyne ha scritto:
>
>"Nigel" > wrote in message
roups.com...
>>I don't believe that any serious white tea producer can ever be
>> anything but a niche player - to remove white tea from its niche
>> status will destroy it. Millions of kilograms of "white tea" being
>> sold inexpensively in tea bags and in mango flavored RTD says to me
>> that they are using a different white tea to the sort I recognise as
>> fitting the description.
>> My Malawi whites are hand made and could not be sold at tea bag
>> price. We are making them on one estate - Satemwa - the oldest estate
>> in Malawi and in the same family ownership for three generations. It
>> is ethically run and FairTrade. It was first planted up in 1923 and
>> is located in the Shire Highlands near Mt Thyolo and produces mainly
>> black teas - the leaf is grown on the estate at around 3,000 feet in
>> good clean air and extra leaf is bought in from small farmers. White
>> teas and soon some Oolongs are a new venture - see
>> http://www.satemwa.com/articles/White_Teas~3
>>
>> Nigel at Teacraft
>>
>
>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
>
>

--
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Gregg Lyne ha scritto:
>
>"Nigel" > wrote in message
roups.com...
>>I don't believe that any serious white tea producer can ever be
>> anything but a niche player - to remove white tea from its niche
>> status will destroy it. Millions of kilograms of "white tea" being
>> sold inexpensively in tea bags and in mango flavored RTD says to me
>> that they are using a different white tea to the sort I recognise as
>> fitting the description.
>> My Malawi whites are hand made and could not be sold at tea bag
>> price. We are making them on one estate - Satemwa - the oldest estate
>> in Malawi and in the same family ownership for three generations. It
>> is ethically run and FairTrade. It was first planted up in 1923 and
>> is located in the Shire Highlands near Mt Thyolo and produces mainly
>> black teas - the leaf is grown on the estate at around 3,000 feet in
>> good clean air and extra leaf is bought in from small farmers. White
>> teas and soon some Oolongs are a new venture - see
>> http://www.satemwa.com/articles/White_Teas~3
>>
>> Nigel at Teacraft
>>
>
>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
>
>Blues,

99.9% of Malawi teas are black CTC style teas going into belnds for tea bags (60% of the crop goes to the UK and South Africa). Satemwa (www.satemwa.com) is the only estate producing specilty teas - white, green, black and we are currently now also experimenting with some Oolongs.

regards,
Alexander

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Nigel ha scritto:
>I don't believe that any serious white tea producer can ever be
>anything but a niche player - to remove white tea from its niche
>status will destroy it. Millions of kilograms of "white tea" being
>sold inexpensively in tea bags and in mango flavored RTD says to me
>that they are using a different white tea to the sort I recognise as
>fitting the description.
>My Malawi whites are hand made and could not be sold at tea bag
>price. We are making them on one estate - Satemwa - the oldest estate
>in Malawi and in the same family ownership for three generations. It
>is ethically run and FairTrade. It was first planted up in 1923 and
>is located in the Shire Highlands near Mt Thyolo and produces mainly
>black teas - the leaf is grown on the estate at around 3,000 feet in
>good clean air and extra leaf is bought in from small farmers. White
>teas and soon some Oolongs are a new venture - see
>http://www.satemwa.com/articles/White_Teas~3
>
>Nigel at Teacraft
>
>
>On Apr 12, 1:52 pm, "pgwk" > wrote:
>
>>
>> How many estates are producing these whites and at what elevations and
>> in what quantities? Is there enough momentum and scale for them to
>> become a serious player in the great teas market or are they just
>> small niche producers?
>>
>>
>>Only one estate; www.satemwa.com is producing these whites. Much work has gone into finding suitable varities, times of year and production methods and the result is a truly unique range of white teas. The elevation at Satemwa goes up to 4,200ft making it the higest grown tea in Malawi. As Nigel has said, Satemwa will always be a small niche producer - aiming at producing a quality product. Some of Satemwa's most exciting white teas come from varieties of which we have less than 200 trees - these tea trees ahve been bred in Malawi and are therefore unique to this region. There is now alot of white tea around. I am currenlty in the UK and bought some in tea bags off the supermarket shelf - yuk it was. This is not the way Satemwa will be going.
>
>

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