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BRIGHT, BRISK
AFRICA TEAS
African loose leaf teas are among the most exciting in the modern tea world — grown at high altitude across Kenya, Rwanda and beyond, producing teas of remarkable brightness, body and character. Our collection spans three very different African styles: a robust Kenyan breakfast tea, a spiced Rwandan orthodox, and a complex highland estate with malt and berry depth.
Africa Teas
Africa Teas
Award-winning, hearty teas from the newly emerging talent of worldwide tea production. Kenyan teas are known for their brightness, brisk flavour and fragrant leaves.
Although relative newcomers to the high-grade tea market, the superb tea farms emerging in Africa are widely acknowledged as some of the best in the world, competing with the very best loose leaf teas from China, India and Ceylon in both flavour and quality.
We have teas from Malawi, Tanzania and Rwanda, each with their own unique style and reflecting an array of excellent tea-growing terrains and climates. Kenyan Teas are famous for their brightness, attractive colour, brisk flavour and fragrant leaves. Traditionally used in blending, Kenyan teas are now emerging in their own right in the speciality market. Kenya is the world's third largest producer of black tea, with quality increasing at a steady rate. The main tea plantations in Kenya are situated in or around the highland areas on either side of the Great Rift Valley at altitudes ranging from 1500 to 2700 meters above sea level. The plucking of Kenyan tea is meticulous and ensures that only the choicest upper two leaves and a bud are picked. Tea bushes are plucked on a regular cycle ranging from 7 to 14 days. As a result all High Teas Kenyan teas have won international acclaim for their consistent high quality and excellent delightful aroma. For an excellent introduction to the world of top class Kenyan teas we highly recommend our Lelsa Estate FBOP.Lelsa's teas are consistently prized for their purity of flavour, robust character and renowned malty Kenyan edge that takes milk exceptionally well. This FBOP is no exception: flavourful with floral notes and assertive astringency this truly stands up as one of Africa's greatest teas. Due to their hearty flavour Kenyan teas make exemplary breakfast teas and Kaimosi Estate’s offering is both rich and strong and takes milk well.Arguably one of the best cups of Kenyan black tea around, you really must try our Kosabei Kenyan tea whose leaves yield a delicious amber-coloured brew with hints of malt and berry. The finish is gentle and astringent with aromas of currant and moist earth.
For African Rooibos - or 'red-bush' teas see our Rooibos page.
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Africa's Tea Highlands
African tea is grown primarily across the highlands of East and Central Africa, where altitude, equatorial sun and fertile volcanic soils combine to produce teas of remarkable brightness and body. In Kenya, the major growing areas sit between 1,500 and 2,700 metres above sea level around the Great Rift Valley — conditions that create the clean, brisk, aromatic character that has made Kenyan tea so valued across the world. Rwanda, Malawi and Tanzania each bring their own growing conditions to the region, giving this collection a pleasing range of styles.
Flavour and Character
The three teas here show the range of what Africa can offer. Kenya – Lelsa Estate FBOP is the most immediately familiar: robust, lightly astringent and full of the malty Kenyan brightness that makes it an outstanding breakfast tea, especially with milk. Rwanda Rukeri Estate Organic OP Orthodox offers something more nuanced — a spiced, citrus-edged cup with the lively freshness of a well-grown orthodox tea, showing a very different side of East African black tea. Kenya – Kosabei Estate TGFOP adds further depth: an amber-coloured brew with hints of malt and berry, gentle astringency and lingering notes of currant and moist earth — one of Africa's most complex and distinctive cups.
Brewing Africa Teas
The stronger teas in this collection — Lelsa Estate and Kosabei — are at their best brewed with freshly boiled water for three to four minutes and served with milk, where their body and malt come fully into their own. The Rwandan Rukeri is more versatile: excellent black, where its citrus and spice notes shine, or with a little milk if preferred. All three reward a proper leaf quantity — a heaped teaspoon per cup — to get the most from their character.
African tea is one of the most under-explored corners of the tea world, and this collection shows why it deserves more attention. These are not background blending teas — they are estate teas with real character, and each one rewards drinking on its own terms.
FAQs
Our Africa tea collection includes teas from Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi and Tanzania.
African teas are often bright, brisk and aromatic, with some showing malty, citrus, floral or berry-like notes depending on the estate and country.
Yes. Many Kenyan teas have the body and briskness to take milk very well, especially as breakfast teas.
Yes. Most teas in this collection are black teas, so they naturally contain caffeine.
For a classic Kenyan introduction, try Lelsa Estate FBOP. For something brighter and more citrus-led, choose Rwanda Rukeri Estate Organic OP Orthodox. For extra depth, try Kosabei Estate TGFOP.