73

Tanzania Livingstonia
Dry: blackberry, purple grape skin
Wet: muscatel-Darjeeling-like aroma with a vegetal spiciness
Leaf: traditional orthodox black tea with uniform color and some reddish tips-threads. (personal note : largest leaf I have ever had the chance to try from this country)
Cup: a dark orange-brown umber, dull brass colored liquor. Milk bodied with a building tannic/astringent character, intense blood orange flavor and almost Darjeeling-like spiciness.

Would pair well with ‘cranberry-orange’ scones or some other kind of biscuit-like pastry.

I wanted to include something rare and special for this post, as I try and balance the number of posts to the proportion of those I watch and teas in the cupboard. I recieved this as a sample a while back and something about the humid, hot days of summer makes me crave black teas, particularly those from Africa. There is such an amazing terrior in this cut of leaf and such a contrast to Assam, Ceylon, and China. The amazing profile ranges are always so eye opening.
I wrote the description a while back, but in revisiting it this morning, there was a more pronounced note of caramel on the dry aroma and a deeper dark fruity profile in the cup. There is a flavor that is distinctive that you can pick up as ‘iced tea’ as so much of the teas from Africa get pushed into bags and hidden against other flavors because its cheap; this is sad as the tea itself has a wonderful profile on its own.
I was only able to find 2 retailers that carry this tea : Upton and Harney and Sons. You can bet this is on the menu as a blending ace, but if you get the chance try it on its own – it will surprise you!

I used a traditional cupping set for the original description and I’m using a Tawianese Gawain this morning. 3g per 6oz in 185-190 degree water for 3-4 mintues.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Brittany

Interesting post. So far I’ve only had two African teas (both Kenyan) and I wasn’t too impressed. I have more African samples to try, though, so I’m curious as to their potential.

Kashyap

i could sent you a sample of a fantastic Kenya oolong…my review is on here

Brittany

That sounds like a good idea. I could send you some samples, too, but my cupboard on here isn’t accurate. I have a lot more teas than just 16, so just name off some things you’re interested in.

Kashyap

send me a side message or email with a mailiing address and I will send this out to you this week

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Comments

Brittany

Interesting post. So far I’ve only had two African teas (both Kenyan) and I wasn’t too impressed. I have more African samples to try, though, so I’m curious as to their potential.

Kashyap

i could sent you a sample of a fantastic Kenya oolong…my review is on here

Brittany

That sounds like a good idea. I could send you some samples, too, but my cupboard on here isn’t accurate. I have a lot more teas than just 16, so just name off some things you’re interested in.

Kashyap

send me a side message or email with a mailiing address and I will send this out to you this week

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

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Tea enthusiast and charity athlete who enjoys exploring and sharing the world of tea and fighting for a world free of ALS. Visit : http://alswarriorohio.wordpress.com to join the fight!
I am also the founder of Tea Around Town a facebook page devoted to tea enthusiasm and education, linking tea tastings and passion with charitable projects and actions in the Central Ohio area.

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Columbus, OH

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