Justea Kenyan Black Tea- Changing the lives for tea farmers in Kenya

Have you heard about Justea?  It's not just a new brand of tea, it is partnership teaching Kenyan farmers how to process the tea they grow. Kenya is the third largest tea producer, but they mostly do not process their own teas. The tea is usually sold off centralized processing centers to eventually be added to blends. The farmers end up making very little off of the tea they grow. But Grayson Bain and the Justea team decided to help change all of that. They are dedicated to giving these tea farmers the knowledge and technology to hand process the tea they grow. This way they can sell the tea for prices much higher than the raw leaf. From their web site:

 We want to establish a tea processing workshop and start a tea self-determined co-op in which the farmers process their own tea. We will enable them to sell this tea in a fair and direct trade partnership to tea lovers like you. 

I purchased the Kenyan Black tea through their crowd funding campaign to support the farmers. There are a few different varieties you can choose from, as well as some tea ware depending on the amount of money you choose to donate.

Opening the canister of tea I was greeted with a sweet, earthy scent. I knew right away this would be a good cup. This is a dark, rich black tea tea. After reading recommendations on steepster, I steeped this for 3 minutes for a perfect brew.

The aroma of the dry leaf is malty, with notes of barley, mushroom, fresh wood chips, and stone fruit.
The tea is super smooth and has a heavily malty flavor, along with hints of caramel, and cacao nibs. There is some astringency, and slight earthy sweetness like a sweet potato. The sweetness increases as it cools.

We just moved to a new apartment, and the process has been exhausting. This tea has been the perfect remedy for an aching back and sore legs. It's the perfect morning cup, if you like a straight up punchy tea. It would also hold up perfectly well to milk and sugar.

If you are looking for a new black tea, you can't do better than this fresh, strong tea while helping out a great cause. I wish the Justea team the best of luck with their world-changing endeavors. I will definitely be buying more of this tea in the future.