I've always had mixed feelings about bagged tea. There are many good ones out there, but the purist in me looks for loose tea. I do have my favorite British bagged black teas for office use and for easy iced tea, but in general I prefer my tea loose. I've been trying to keep an open mind about tea bags (and have found quite a few good ones), but they disappoint more often than delight.
A lovely friend brought back tea for me from his Cape Cod vacation. He found this tea in a local market and thought of me. How sweet is that? The tea is a bagged version of Ajri's Kenyan Black Tea. I tried the loose version quite awhile back and enjoyed it, but i actually think the bagged version is a great choice. The loose tea contains CTC leaves, making it difficult to use a tea strainer. The pieces are very small and sometimes fall through the tiny holes.Ajiri makes a great basic product with lovely packaging. The profits support orphan education in Western Kenya. A great tasting tea for a good cause, how can you go wrong? I'm happy to add this tea to my collection of basic black teas. It measures up to my favorite British heavy hitters.
I was very curious when I read your headline and the beginning of your post, to figure out which tea you were going to highlight here...and I'm not surprised!
ReplyDeleteI remember trying Ajiri tea's loose-leaf tea and having a similar reaction. I saw the finely-broken CTC (Crush-tear-curl) leaf and was really surprised when I found a rich, pleasing aroma and nice flavor. I also found it to be cocoa-like.
I'm a big fan of this company, both the quality of its tea, and their goals and approach, and I hope they thrive!