Tea

Our tea is grown and sourced from a single origin, Kenya. Tea plays an important role in most Kenyans everyday life as they themselves are large consumers of tea. They take pride in the high quality tea they produce. Tea is actually the number one foreign exchange earner in Kenya, where the country is the largest exporter of black tea in the world.

See our tea collection

We work directly with tea factories and small scale farmers in Nandi Hills, Kericho, Meru, Aberdare Ranges and Muranga regions in Kenya. These farmers deliver their produce to hand-picked selected factories in the respective regions. Here the tea is carefully processed to enable direct export. Product quality control is carried out on site within each processing facility where documentation is maintained to be able to maintain traceability of product origin. As per the tea directorate of Kenya, Kenyan tea factories/producing facilities are certified with the internationally acclaimed standards (ISO 22000; HACCP; Rain forest alliance, fair trade GMP).

Kenyan teas are 100% natural and completely free of additives, artificial coloring, and preservatives. This is mainly because of the tea variety grown in the country and the fact that tea gardens in Kenya are situated in high altitude areas that range between 1,500 – 2,700 meters above sea level, making the teas less prone to diseases and pests. Unlike other parts of the world, the majority of Kenya’s tea is handpicked and then only the finest top two leaves and the bud are picked, explaining why our teas are in the premium range. This also explains the quality, fine aroma and strength that Kenyan tea offers. It is also important to note that due to favorable soil and weather conditions in the country our teas can be picked all year round.

95% of Kenyan tea is processed using the Cut to Curl (CTC) processing method where the tea is crushed into small particles, resulting in the kind of tea used in tea bags. This method of processing destroys much of the flavour in the tea and is mainly used in blends with teas from other parts of the world and put in tea bags, in these cases the Kenyan superior quality tea is used to improve quality overall.

We ONLY specialize in Orthodox teas, these a teas processed using traditional methods, where the tea leaves are left to dry and oxidize after which they are rolled either by hand or machinery used to mimic hand rolling. This result in whole leaf high-quality orthodox teas full of flavour, strength, and aroma.

In the tea sector today, we see that the buyer and other market factors have the upper hand in the supply chain and in some instances, this means there is a lot of pressure put on prices paid to the producers and hence a relatively low price as compared to the retail price of tea. When you purchase our teas you pay an ethical price that benefits the Kenyan tea farmers and the factories that process their teas, helping to promote sustainable agricultural practices and sustainable growth in their communities.