Jan 27
Stephen’s Teaview Snapshot
 | "A rich-tasting black tea that finishes clean and with a hint of natural, almost floral, sweetness. One of the better black tea experiences I've had in a long time."
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From the Tea Zone web site:"A rich full bodied tea with floral-like flavor notes. The cup has thickness with a malty but lively character. A perfect all day tea. It is the best grade produced by Milima."
I'll just come out and say it, I don't know that I've enjoyed a black tea this much in a long, long time.
My initial reaction on the first sip was "Whoa, that's sweet," and in fact I asked my wife (who had prepared it for me) if she had added sugar to it. (She hadn't.) The taste is rich and malty, but not bitter at all. It finishes clean, with a hint of natural, almost floral, sweetness. This is a black tea that could very easily become my everyday, go-to blend.
Tea Zone offers a bit more information about Milima:
"The Milima mark is manufactured at Saosa Factory which is the only factory in East Africa producing orthodox style leaf. This special mark is produced from a delicate clone, which was developed at African Highlands Produce, - Applied Research Department. The clone develops a distinct floral characteristic during the cooler months of June and July when the bush growth is slow. We only buy Milima at this time to obtain the best quality. The leaf is selected from the most suitable clonal bushes on estates Kaproret, Saramek and Chemase. Teas for Milima are grown at 6000 feet or higher. After plucking first thing in the morning, the leaves are gently rolled in order to maintain the floral character and obtain the twisted leaf appearance. After 3 separate rolls, the leaf is allowed to oxidize before being dried, than then sorted into 3 primary grades. GFBOP, GFOP, GFBOP1. Each grade contains a good percentage of golden tips giving the leaf a similar appearance to premium 2nd flush Assam Orthodox teas of North India. The liquors of Milima are bright and orange in color, and impart a floral aroma and taste with a delicious malty almost Bordeaux like character."
— To purchase Tea Zone Kenya Milima Estate GFBOP, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular blend, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.
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Stephen Teaviews.com Reviewer » Read more about this reviewer on Stephen's profile page. » Find a list of recent posts by Stephen. |
February 4th, 2008 at 4:01 am
Milima tea is produced east of the Rift Valley but is not from the only orthodox tea factory in Kenya. West of the Rift in sight of Mt Kenya there is the only other orthodox factory – named Kangaita – owned by the small farmers of the Kenya Tea Development Agency. I designed and commissioned this orthodox line in 2003 and it has produced large leaf black and green teas ever since. The quality is generally better then the admittedly good Milima level. Most of the Kangaita tea goes to Iran (where they like high quality twisted grades) so it’s difficult to find in US or Europe. Nothing But Tea (www.nbtea.co.uk) used to sell it but have not had stock for a couple of years, but Chrissie there tells me that another consignment may be due in a couple of months, current political disruption in Kenya permitting.
Nigel at Teacraft
April 23rd, 2008 at 5:45 am
Nigel and I have frequently corresponded about this. Even with their IMO inferior estate leaf material (as opposed to the green leaf from their many smallgolder outgrowers), KTDA-owned Kangaita could easily make better tea than the “Milima” which is of extremely uneven quality, and ranks from lower middle class to downright undrinkable (the latter quality batches are sorted out already by the importers).
As to Iran…. uhh, Nigel, you certainly did *not* want to use the descriptor “high quality” when commenting on Kangaita KTDA teas made after 2003. The samples that Marlena and I had tasted were uniformly horrible. So was the recently-launched black orthodox “Jani” brand of Kangaita.
Alexander Eichener
My Rating:
4/10