Tag Archives: Black Tea

Malawi Tea and Satemwa Estate

One of many flags of the world, in this case the flag of Malawi

Malawi Flag (Public Domain)

Most Americans won’t think of Malawi as a tea growing country, however, this former British colony is home to tea estates that are still producing high quality loose leaf tea. So here is some background on this country and their tea industry.

Profile of Malawi

The country of Malawi is located in Africa, south of the equator near Madagascar and is about on the same latitude as Brazil and the northern part of Australia. Given that it isn’t too far south of the equator it should come as no surprise that agriculture is a large part of the economy of Malawi. According to the CIA World Fact Book, this country which is about the size of Pennsylvania, exports tobacco, tea, raw sugar, beans, soybean products, clothing and apparel in decreasing order. Indeed tobacco is the largest by far making up more than 50% of exports from the country.

As countries go, Malawi is relatively young. It was created as a British protectorate in 1891 and only became an independent nation in 1964. The majority of Malawi’s citizens are descendants of the Maravi, who settled into the region during the 1400s. While it is a democracy now, the people of the country experienced many strict laws under the one-time “President for Life” Hastings Banda until his reign ended in 1993.

Today Malawi continues to experience some challenges as it grows and develops including a decreasing demand for tobacco world wide, extreme weather events caused by climate change, and high rates of HIV/AIDS. Over the past 3-4 years, Malawi has incurred large damages from tropical storms and other severe weather that has wiped out infrastructure and large amounts of farm land. Being one of the poorest nations, the World Bank, IMF, United States and Belgium have been assisting in funding the rebuilding and repairs of the country.

Malawi Tea from Satemwa Estate

Satemwa estate is in Southern Malawi near Thyolo and Bvumbwe

Map of Malawi with insert of Southern Malawi and Thyolo.

Located in the southern tip of Malawi, Satemwa Estate has been producing tea and coffee since 1923, long before Malawi became an independent country. It produces a wide variety of tea products including specialty orthodox tea. The tea estate is located in the southern highlands of the country well south of Lake Malawi and a mere 35 minutes from the countries highest peak, Mt. Mulanje. The Satemwa Estate actually has tea fields spread around the city of Thyolo extending up to Bvumbwe including a field at higher elevations along the slopes of the Michiru Mountain Conservation Area.

The Satemwa Estate tea plantation employs a large number of people in the region. While Malawi struggles in many areas, the plantation features numerous programs to support the well being of its staff. Programs include a health clinic which provides medical care to all employees and their families along with students from the Satemwa Primary School. Its health efforts even include work with the United Nations International Labour Office (UN ILO) to increase awareness and protection around HIV/AIDS. It is supporting national efforts for community policing and even has sporting activities for its employees. Finally, the estate maintains a primary school to combat education challenges in the country, providing schooling for about 900 students.

Satemwa Estate is also committed to reducing its impact on climate change, protecting the environment, and sustainable farming demonstrated through training programs for workers and community members. It is Fair Trade Certified as well as holding certification by both UTZ and the Rainforest Alliance.

Dominion Tea’s Selection of Specialty Tea from Satemwa Estate

Dominion Tea offers three teas from Satemwa Estate:

Thyolo Moto Satemwa – This handmade black tea from Satemwa Estate in southern Malawi is dried over guava wood. The beautiful large leaf unfurls when steeped to release a bright orange liquor with a sweet woody, floral and nutmeg flavor.
Puerh Leaf Satemwa Estate – Produced in the modern style (cooked vs aged), this leaf puerh produces a mild, earthy, and woody experience. Although China is known for its puerh, this leaf puerh from Malawi shows that it can be done in other parts of the world.
Zomba Green Tea– This beautiful long leaf green tea is from the Satemwa Estate in Malawi. Hand plucked and twisted, this fragrant green tea has excellent dry sweet grass and vegetal notes. This tea mellows and is fabulous as an iced tea.

Sources Referenced

CIA World Fact Book, https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/malawi/#introduction

Satemwa Estate, http://www.satemwa.com/

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/malawi/overview

Malawi: Heavy Rains Leave 700 Families Homeless in Thyolo, By Sungeni Nyoni, January 16, 2015, allAfrica.com, http://allafrica.com/stories/201501161479.html

Picking Tea and Condoms in Malawi, United Nations International Labour Office, http://data.unaids.org/pub/ExternalDocument/2009/20090402_ilomalawi_en.pdf

Thyolo-Thava MP Reaches Out to More Flood Victims, February 18, 2015, The Malawi Voice, http://malawivoice.com/2015/02/18/thyolo-thava-mp-reaches-out-to-more-flood-victims/

Tea Eggs and the Chinese Spring Festival

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The lunar new year is fast approaching and with it a chance to look into the Chinese culture and find new ways to use tea. The Spring Festival, which used to be the Chinese New Year, was renamed in 1913 when the Communist Party took over China and put the country on the Gregorian calendar (this is our modern calendar which was introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII). The Spring Festival corresponds with the lunar new year, which starts this year on February 19^th. In Chinese culture, It is considered a time for cleaning, gathering of families and celebrating a fresh start.

Like every family gathering, no matter which country you live in, there is plenty of food. A typical dish, which uses tea in a unique way, are Chinese tea eggs. These are basically spiced hard boiled eggs. The combination and concentration of spices are unique to every family. So while I use one combination below, feel free to modify for your taste.

Spicing for Chinese Tea Eggs

Chinese Tea Eggs

6 large eggs
4 tablespoons of Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon of Black or Puerh Tea (traditionally this is made with Puerh)
1 small cinnamon stick
½ tablespoon anise seeds (3 to 4 Star Anise if you happen to have a good spice shop nearby)
1 tablespoon dried orange peel
½ tablespoon peppercorns

You will need tongs, a bowl with ice and water to cool the eggs and a spoon to crack their shells.

Place the eggs in sauce pan or large pot. You will want the pot big enough to hold the eggs in a single layer and allow you to pour in enough water to cover the eggs entirely. Place the eggs in the pot and fill it with water. Bring the water to a boil and then lower to simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the eggs from the water and put into the bowl with ice water. This will cool the eggs enough for you to handle them without burning yourself.

Completed Tea Eggs

Assuming none of the eggs broke during the initial cooking, just leave the water in the pot as you will be putting the eggs back in it. If one did, drain out the water, it will be foamy, wipe out the pot and fill with fresh water. Pull an egg out of the ice water and use a spoon to crack the egg shell. You are trying to make a lot of small cracks without removing the shell. Don’t worry if you lose part of the shell, just crack the entire shell then place the egg back in the pot. Do this to the remaining eggs.

Once all the eggs are back in the pot, add in the soy sauce, tea and spices. Add more water if necessary to get the liquids above the eggs. Turn the heat back on and bring the water up to a small simmer and allow to cook for at least 2 hours, if you want a darker web on your eggs you can simmer up to 3 hours.

This makes a salted and slightly spicy hard-boiled egg that is also colored by the tea and soy sauce.

Enjoy the lunar new year with a new way to use tea.

Black Tea Risotto

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As winter seems to keep coming earlier than I want, I went into the kitchen looking for something warm, soothing, and filling. Nothing fits that bill like risotto. Now, I will admit I am usually looking for ways to make the everyday recipes my own and that is why I thought to replace the traditional stock in this dish with tea.

In figuring out which tea to use, it is helpful to remember that risotto gets its creaminess from both the butter added at the end of cooking and the starch released from the rice during cooking. So whatever tea is chosen needs to hold up against dairy and nothing does that better than a good strong black tea. I am sure an Assam black tea or Yunnan would have done fine, but I opted for one of our favorites, Kosabei TGFOP, a black tea from Kenya with both a malty flavor and slightly floral notes.

Experiments with Risotto using Black Tea

Black Tea as Stock for Risotto

Black Tea Risotto

4-6 tablespoons room temperature butter*
6½ cups water
1½ tsps of Kosabei TGFOP (Yunnan Sunrise, Classic Assam, or other bold black tea would work too)
1 medium onion
1½ cups Arborio rice or another short grained rice
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

*You can use oil, just use a lighter oil like corn or safflower, olive oil will overpower the tea flavor

First you will need to brew up your tea. Using a small stock pot or sauce pan, bring 6 ½ cups of water to a boil. Once it reaches a boil take the pot off the burner and then drop in all the tea. Allow the leaves to steep for 5 minutes and then pour everything through a strainer into a pitcher. Wipe any residual leaves out of the pot and then return the liquid to the pot. Put it over low heat so it stays warm while you are cooking the risotto. The best way to guarantee success with risotto is having warm liquid to pour over the rice.

Dice the onion into small pieces. Put a medium to large sauce pan (2 quarter sauce pan will give you more room to stir) on the stove at high heat. Put in 2 tablespoons of the butter and allow to melt. Add the onion to the butter and allow to cook for 3 to 5 minutes (the onions should look translucent). Stir periodically so your onions don’t brown. Then add the rice to the pan and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Stir occasionally to get the butter over all the rice and to evenly incorporate the onion. If using Arborio rice, when the kernels become clear around the edges it is the signal to start adding the tea.

Using a ladle, scope in one ladle of the tea and then stir until the liquid disappears. Then add the next ladle and repeat. Keeping going until you have roughly ½ cup left of the tea. Your rice should look plump and by in a slightly creamy sauce (it should not look soupy and the rice kernels should be apparent). Now add in the remaining butter 1 tablespoon at a time. If you cut the tablespoon into quarters it will melt faster. Also, this is where it is time to take a small taste of the risotto and see if you like the creaminess. It is not necessary to add all four tablespoons, it is more of a personal preference. Next, stir in the cup of cheese until it is fully incorporated.

Black tea risotto with some peas and garnish.

The Finished Black Tea Risotto Dish

Now is the time to judge if the remaining ½ cup of tea is necessary. If the risotto is looking dry, try adding a little at a time until it looks shiny. You can also skip the last half cup and save it for the morning if you like the taste of the risotto and how it looks. Salt and pepper to taste and if you want you can stir in ½ to ¾ cup of your favorite vegetable and a couple teaspoons of herbs (rosemary and green peas is one of my favorite combinations in this dish).

I was surprised at how the warm malty flavor of a good black tea adds unique note to this creamy dish. Not to mention, it turns it a warm wheat brown color almost like a loaf of bread. I hope this inspires you to try using tea in one of your favorite recipes.

Your Caffeine Assumptions About Tea Are Wrong! (Sorry)

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Two leaves and a bud of camellia sinensis (tea) plant contain the most caffeine of any part of the plant.

Bud and Two Leaf – Desired Pluck and Highest in Caffeine – By Mandeep Singh, CC-BY-SA-3.0

We recently wrote about the caffeine in tea, specifically looking into claims that caffeine in tea was somehow different than caffeine found in coffee, soda, or other products. We found that the jury was still out on the topic, with some studies showing that the combination of L-theanine and caffeine was less jolting. However, these studies used much greater quantities of L-theanine than is normally found in tea. This brings us to the next topic around how much caffeine is in tea. A search of web pages reveals a wide variety of information with many charts showing black tea as having the most caffeine followed by oolong, green, and white in descending order. We went searching to learn more about what things impact the amount of caffeine in tea and what ends up in your cup.

The Role of Caffeine in Tea

First lets set the stage a bit. Caffeine is found in true tea from the camellia sinensis plant. It is not found in herbals and tisanes like products featuring rooibos, honeybush, or other herbs. Many plants including both coffee and tea naturally produce caffeine as a way to protect themselves. Caffeine, like other compounds including nicotine and morphine, is a bitter tasting alkeloid, a feature which helps ward off many insects that would otherwise feast on plant leaves. It also tends to inhibit the growth of fungus thereby further protecting the plant. (Freeman and Beattie)

Recent research also suggests that there may also be another reason for caffeine in plants; to attract honeybees. Specifically, researchers have suggested that in low doses, having caffeine in pollen helps honeybees better identify the scent of a given flower providing a bit of reproductive advantage. (Wright, Baker, et all).

Caffeine and Types of Tea

Understanding that the presence of caffeine in tea is a self defense mechanism and that new growth is most vulnerable to insect attack, it should come as no surprise that the most desired part of the tea plant also has the highest caffeine. Specifically the bud and newest leaves, which are highly regarded for many types of tea, provide more caffeine than older growth. However, this isn’t the end of the story. The tea plant, c. Sinensis has evolved naturally over time into many varieties to suit the area in which they are grown. The sinensis and assamica varieties are the most notable but not the only varieties. Additionally, many countries including Japan, China, India, and Kenya actively work on producing specialized clones more suited to specific growing conditions, desired tastes, and leaf appearance. Each variety of plant differs in the amount of caffeine it produces and even the specific season of growth and available nutrients all impact caffeine production.

All types of tea, including green, black, white, and oolong, come from the same plant. The drying, rolling, and oxidization to achieve finished product does vary from type to type but the varieties still come from the same basic plant. Nothing in the standard production process extracts or otherwise removes caffeine from the leaves.

So what does this mean? Unless producers and retailers are sampling large volumes of leaf, for each and every product they offer, its really impossible to make specific claims about the amount of caffeine in any type of tea. It will fluctuate wildly within a very wide range; white, black, green, or otherwise. One might be able to avoid high amounts of caffeine by avoiding teas that are all tips but even this is no guarantee.

Decaffeinated Tea

An alternative for many is to look for decaffeinated tea which theoretically allows enjoyment of tea without the caffeine. There are two general methods used in the decaffeination process of tea today; ethyl acetate (also known as “naturally decaffeinated”) and CO₂. In the first case, ethyl acetate, which occurs naturally in the tea plant, is used to wash the tea leaves removing caffeine (as well as many other beneficial substances and flavor compounds) from the product. The washed tea leaves are then dried and repackaged. In the case of CO₂, the leaves are also washed. This is done under more than 60 lbs of pressure per square inch (psi) at which point CO₂ becomes a liquid. After washing the tea in liquid CO₂ the leaves return to normal pressure at which point the remaining liquid CO₂ simply evaporates. Both decaffeination processes are expensive, time consuming, and remove more than just the caffeine resulting in some compromise in taste and other compunds found in tea.

Aside from the impact on taste and other compounds, the process of decaffeination does remove most of the caffeine found in tea. If you live in the European Union and you buy decaf tea then you are in great shape. To meet EU standards a decaf product must have 99.9% of the caffeine removed. In the United States we aren’t quite as exacting, requiring only 97% removal. So if we assume that the amount of caffeine in any given tea sample may vary widely then so too might the amount of caffeine in your decaf tea.

Rooibos, Honeybush, and Tisanes naturally are caffeine free.

Adirondack Berries – A Rooibos Based Tisane

Its worth noting that there is a myth floating about that you can eliminate most of the caffeine in tea by doing a quick initial steep, tossing the liquor, and re-steeping. Unfortunately the data under controlled conditions doesn’t support this myth at all. To eliminate the caffeine you would need to steep for 10-15 minutes, toss the liquor, and then steep again but who would want to drink that? For a much more in-depth look at caffeine and tea have a look at Caffeine and Tea: Myth and Reality by Nigel Melican which is one of the best reviews we have seen to date on the subject.

In summary, while the amount of caffeine in any given sample can be measured by a lab, as far as we can tell its really impossible to make sweeping claims about the amount of caffeine in any specific type of tea, much less one specific tea product. When we want to skip the caffeine we’ll have a a tisane or herbal tea.

Sources Cited

Freeman, B.C. and G.A. Beattie. 2008. An Overview of Plant Defenses against Pathogens and Herbivores. The Plant Health Instructor. DOI: 10.1094/PHI-I-2008-0226-01, http://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/intropp/topics/Pages/OverviewOfPlantDiseases.aspx

G.A. Wright, D.D. Baker, M.J.Palmer, J.A. Mustard, E. F. Power, A. M Borland, P.C. Stevenson. Caffeine in floral nectar enhances a pollinator’s memory of reward. Science. Doi 10.1126. Science., http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/item/bees-get-a-buzz-from-caffeine

Is caffeine from tea less jolting?

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Chemical Makeup of Caffeine

We love tea as much as the next person (okay perhaps a bit more). We are also a bit geeky by nature so we are fascinated to learn more about tannins, polyphenols, terrior, and other science related topics in the world of tea. We have also learned to be a bit skeptical as well. There are loads of claims attributed to tea being able to cure all kinds of health problems. There seems to be no end to the claims made around tea and tisanes. Most of these claims, however, utterly lack quality sources and rigorous scientific inquiry.

So it is with one of the more fascinating claims we have come across; that the caffeine in tea is somehow different or better than that found in coffee. Specifically, there are quite a number of websites claiming that the caffeine in tea is either “slow release” or is absorbed into the bloodstream more slowly. As the theory goes, this property makes tea a better choice because it doesn’t have the significant quick jolt found in coffee. What’s more the theory suggests that the caffeine stays with you longer, providing an enhanced sense of alertness and clarity.

How Caffeine is Generally Accepted to Impact the Body

It turns out that caffeine causes quite a number of reactions inside the body stemming largely from the brain. Specifically, as the body gets tired it is believed that adenosine molecules builds up in the brain where they attache to aptly named adenosine receptors. This in-turn causes you to feel drowsy and triggers sleep. It turns out that caffeine fits nicely into those adenosine receptors where the brain happily doesn’t get the message that it should be tired. In a cascading effect, it is believed that neurons in the brain begin firing because of the blocked adenosine receptors, the body begins to think its under attack, and the pituitary gland starts releasing adrenaline and the body goes into fight or flight mode, ready for anything.

Caffeine in Tea is Somehow Different

Steeping Tea Leaves by Wikimol, CC BY-SA-3.0

All this leads us back to the earlier theory about how the caffeine in tea is somehow different from caffeine found in coffee, soda, or myriad other products. Realistically, caffeine is caffeine is caffeine. It’s all the same molecule, whether it’s coming from tea, coffee, chocolate, medicine, or so-called energy drinks. What is fascinating, however, is how the body behaves when caffeine is ingested with other substances. While tea has long been believed to deliver a less jolting caffeine effect science hadn’t been able to explain it (and really still hasn’t).

There have recently been a few studies which look at caffeine in combination with compounds present in tea that appear to shed light on the subject. In particular, research has been looking at L-theanine, an amino acid found primarily in plants and fungus materials in combination with caffeine. Tea, as should be obvious at this point, contains L-theanine. Researchers in two different studies (referenced below) have found some linkages in the combination of the two compounds to favorable alertness, cognitive performance, blood pressure, and heart rate. The kicker, however, is that the study participants were given 40-50 mg of caffeine and 90-100 mg of L-theanine.

According to research by Dr. Emma Keenan at the University of Bristol (UK), a standard cup of black tea, quoted as 200 ml or a bit over 6 oz, has 24.2 +/- 5.7 mg of L-theanine. This is one quarter the amount given to study participants when looking at the combination of both caffeine and L-theanine. For green tea this was even lower at 7.9 +/- 3.8 mg of L-theanine. Even if you double the amount of tea consumed to a (perhaps) more reasonable 400 ml or 12-13 oz, the amount of L-theanine is still about half the amount used in study.

For its part caffeine varies wildly in a cup of tea ranging loosely between 30 and 120 mg of caffeine (we will be doing another blog soon which may further challenge assumptions about caffeine in tea).

So is Caffeine in Tea Different?

From our vantage the caffeine in tea isn’t different at all. Its still caffeine. What may be different is how the body responds to the combination of tea, L-theanine, and other compounds present in tea. There is promising research to suggest that L-theanine in combination with caffeine may boost alertness and cognitive response but we wouldn’t feel comfortable making that claim without more research and realistic dosages that mimic real-world consumption of tea.

Sources Cited

The combination of L-theanine and caffeine improves cognitive performance and increases subjective alertness, by Giesbrecht T, Rycroft JA, Rowson MJ, De Bruin EA, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21040626

The combined effects of L-theanine and caffeine on cognitive performance and mood, by Owen GN, Parnell H, De Bruin EA, Rycroft JA, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18681988

How much theanine in a cup of tea? Effects of tea type and method of preparation’, by Keenan, E, Finnie, M, Jones, P, Rogers, P & Priestley, C 2011, Food Chemistry, vol 125., pp. 588 – 594, http://www.bristol.ac.uk/expsych/people/emma-k-keenan/pub/2957550