Kenyan Green Tea

This Kenyan green tea comes from the Itumbe Tea Factory, which is 100% owned by the small-holders who have their tea made there.   Some of these small-scale tea growers have farms as small as 1/4 of an acre, while the average is about two acres.  All of the tea is hand-plucked and grown without pesticides. 

Green tea from Kenya is a relatively recent development.  By and large the Kenyan tea industry is focused on making clean CTC black teas.  Recently some producers and factories have been expanding their offerings to include orthodox (whole leaf) teas, usually black but sometimes white and even most recently green.   It's still early stages for green tea from Kenyan, but one can already find pan-fired, baked, and steamed greens. 

One of the many great things about Kenyan tea is that the plants are almost never treated with pesticides as the elevation for most teas is so high that tea pests generally aren't an issue.  The tea is grown is rich, red volcanic soil with an abundance of sunshine.

This Kenyan Green Tea is admittedly a bit of a strange tea - a touch finicky as the leaves themselves are quite bold so it's easy to get quite a bold cup from this.  If steeped with a light hand, you'll be rewarded with a savory, medium bodied cup with notes of grain, florals, and toasted bread. 

2021 Harvest