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“So the first bolivian black wasn’t much of a success. Maybe this one will do better? It has the same sort of fruit-y pear-y aroma that the other one had, although this one smells more like...” Read full tasting note
“When I first came upon this it came as quite a surprise to me. First of all it comes in long strands – think anorexic All-Bran. These are a bit difficult to spoon out of the container – you either...” Read full tasting note
Very little tea is made in Bolivia and it is virtually unknown on the European market. Nothing But Tea, however has secured some excellent green and black orthodox teas from plantings made by a German farmer in 1914. Chaimate Bolivian Special Teas produce a range of organic single estate speciality orthodox teas from a small tea growing community situated in remote valleys on the high slopes of the snow capped Andes where the cool mountain air mixes with warm moist air from the Amazon imbuing the tea with a rich and distinctive character.
Chaimate is a producer owned company committed to the welfare of the local people and the promotion of gender equality in the workplace. From the sale of its teas it gives 100% financial support to a children’s day center providing meals and education while their parents work at tea cultivation.
All the Chaimate teas are naturally produced without chemical fertilizers or pesticides of any kind and are IMO Control certified fully organic (compliant to both USDA/NOP and EU Regulation 2092/91).
The family owned tea gardens in Mapiri cover in total some 600 acres and such is the local pride that Mapiri declared itself in 2006 as the Tea Municipality of Bolivia.
The tiny Chaimate tea factory – it produces only 50 tonnes of tea per year – is a model of food hygiene. All the tea produced is manufactured specially to order thus ensuring maximum freshness, a feature fast becoming a favorite of their growing number of USA speciality tea customers.
This is a large leaf black tea
Company description not available.
So the first bolivian black wasn’t much of a success. Maybe this one will do better?
It has the same sort of fruit-y pear-y aroma that the other one had, although this one smells more like pear-pear and less like fermented-pear.
Lots of flavour here, and actually quite smooth It does look like I really managed to damage that Rio Negro there. It still doesn’t have much in the way of flavour notes though. It’s just tea. Nothing bad, nothing exceptional. Just tea.
The pears are only there in the aroma and maybe just a teensy tiny hint of it on the swallow, but other than that it’s a one-note show.
Just tea.
When I first came upon this it came as quite a surprise to me.
First of all it comes in long strands – think anorexic All-Bran. These are a bit difficult to spoon out of the container – you either get just two or three strands on the spoon or a baby haystack towering over it.
It’s also a surprise in the cup. There’s a good, generic tea flavour, but there is also a definite element of coffee or chocolate. I also get the tiniest hints of eau de cologne and raw mushroom.
That may all read a bit odd, but it’s become one of my real favourites – I really love it.
I make it with one heaped teaspoon to a mug and steep for three minutes.
ETA – Over time I’ve slightly downgraded my opinion of this. When I first tasted it the chocolate element was something new to me (in a tea, anyway). As I’ve tasted more and more teas with a chocolate element I’ve come to realise that this one has it a bit too strongly so that it’s not balanced with the other flavours. So I’m now tasting it as quite pleasant but rather ‘one-dimensional’.
Incidentally, I accidently found that I can make a quite interesting and enjoyable mug of tea by using a heaped half-teaspoon of this and a heaped half-teaspoon of the Postcard Teas Big Smoke. Doesn’t really work with the teapot, though – by the time you get to the second mug the flavours have blended together into something different.
