Kenya Hand-Rolled Purple Varietal Oolong Tea from What-Cha

Kenya Hand-Rolled Purple Varietal Oolong Tea

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Oolong Tea Leaves
Flavors
Bread, Chestnut, Cinnamon, Nutty, Plum, Raisins, Roasted, Roasted Nuts, Walnut, Wood, Chocolate, Malt, Butter, Coriander Seed, Floral, Spices, Tea, Blood Orange, Cherry, Cream, Fig, Ginger, Lemon Zest, Mineral, Pear, Rose, Violet, Drying, Lemon, Bitter, Lavender, Smoke, Caramel, Honey, Fruity, Sweet, Tangy
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by eastkyteaguy
Average preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 1 min, 15 sec 5 g 7 oz / 195 ml

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From Our Community

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23 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Finished the house cleaning and squeezed in a nap, and now I am very ready for some afternoon tea while I work on some of my manga scanlation projects! This was randomly selected off my list of...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “I don’t often drink roasted oolongs, but I was curious about the plum notes that some people mentioned about this tea. Oolongs with any non-citrus fruit notes are my weakness! I ended up being able...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “I am not really surprised by the mixed reception of this tea, but personally I like it a lot. It is subtle and complex in both smell and taste, it has a long and evolving aftertaste and great...” Read full tasting note
    91
  • “Here is yet another review from my slowly shrinking backlog. I finished a sample pouch of this tea sometime around the end of May. Prior to trying it, I had never tried a purple oolong, but came...” Read full tasting note
    91

From What-Cha

A unique oolong produced from the purple varietal tea plant, giving the tea a unique plum taste and purple tint.

Kangaita Tea Factory is a Fairtrade certified tea factory specialising in producing high quality orthodox teas including the processing of purple teas. It is located at a high elevation just above 2,000m and processes the leaves collected from 6,594 small-scale tea growers whose farms have a total tea acreage of 1,077 hectares. It is the farmers themselves who are the shareholders of Kangaita Tea Factory and elect the directors of the factory.

Tasting Notes:
- Sweet aroma
- Smooth plum taste with hints of fruit

Cultivar: TRFK 306/1
Altitude: 1,500-2,200m
Origin: Kangaita Tea Factory, Mount Kenya Region, Kenya
Sourced: Direct from Kangaita Tea Factory

Brewing Advice:
- Heat water to roughly 90°C/194°F
- Use 2 teaspoons per cup/small teapot
- Brew for 2-3 minutes

Packaging: Resealable ziplock bag

Kenyan Purple Tea
Kenyan scientists have spent the past 25 years developing a new tea plant cultivar designed to revolutionise the Kenyan tea industry with TRFK306/1 being the fruition of their work. The most significant feature of TRFK306/1 is that the tea leaves are purple rather than green which gives the processed tea unique characteristics allowing it to stand out in a crowded and over-saturated tea market, and thus command a higher price compared to other Kenyan cultivars. In addition to purple leaves commanding a higher price, TRFK306/1 has been developed to be higher yielding and more drought resistant, which is very important for Kenyan farmers who are subject to harsh unpredictable weather patterns. Further details can be found here on TRFK’s website.

About What-Cha View company

Company description not available.

23 Tasting Notes

97
Recommended
1719 tasting notes

I give this a more thorough review on my blog but to keep it shorter and lighter here – this stuff is AWESOME! I had to check the website to see if it was the correct tea. This is not even close to what I expected from an oolong. This is malt, malt, malt, malt, (tribute to Spam) and honey, and malt, and caramel, and did I mention malt? Seriously, this reminds me of a combination of Tan Yang and the Dian Hong Golden Tips I had this morning. There is no bitterness, and only a slight dryness. If feels thick and syrupy. The aftertaste is sweet and fruity/spicy. They call it plum and that does match the other teas I have tried that mention plum in the description. What-Cha is quickly turning me into a fan.

I haven’t given a number rating in a while – this one earns it.

Flavors: Honey, Malt, Plum

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML
6 comments
Edit
Ysaurella
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oh it sounds fantastic : plums and honey notes are among my favourite in straight teas. and this is an Oolong.sounds like a double win :)

K S
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I posted after the first steep. Second steep is honey and plum. I think I will shorten the first steep next time and keep some of that malt for round two.

gmathis
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Is there any malt flavor in it?

rosebudmelissa
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This sounds absolutely wonderful! I’m definitely going to have to get some eventually.

What-Cha
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Thanks for another lovely review, Kevin. All What-Cha teas at the moment are marked down 20% for the rest of August if you are interested in purchasing.

TeaWithPolly
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I just got this in the mail… can’t wait to try it!

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