Wanja OP Black Tea

Full Review on www.SororiTeaSisters.com on the 20th but here are the snippits:

Wanja OP Black Tea from Wanja Tea of Kenya provides a strong, bold, wonderful experience. Early infusions taste of hints of cocoa, malt, and fruits, while later infusions bring forth notes of leather, cigar smoke, and woods. Truly a delicious cup!

While Martin currently only has two teas in stock I am watching his online business grow over time, and he selects his teas with the upmost care and concern for his customers! Truly a respectable man!

Absolutely not one bit of astringency or bitterness. Rather, malt, caramel, cocoa, and fruit notes abound! The floral note is difficult to determine for me, I taste it, its present, but I have had a difficult time deciding exactly what floral aspect it is, perhaps violet. The floral note seems to be more on the after taste rather than in the sip itself.

I hope that more people take advantage of this really affordable price point as well! At four dollars per ounce there really isn’t any reason not to try this tea!

Thank you Wanya Tea for this sample!

The only small scale Kenyan tea’s I’ve tasted have come from Butiki, Ajiri and Wanja Tea’s.

Each have been different and delightful.

My friends who have spent some time in Kenya have winced and groaned describing the super, hyper-strong brewed tea. (I would have joined in with glee since the Ajiri Strong Tea tasted quite normal to me, but seems far too strong to many others.)

I haven’t reviewed tea on Steepster in DAYS! I’ve been making Asian Pickles (sweet and savory) and Vadouvan Indian Spice Blend (Curried onions and garlic which is slowly baked in a mixture of spices until almost dry. Stored in freezer bags I’ll have a good supply for adding to recipes!).

There is no way I could review tea with onion, garlic and vinegar scenting my house!

As a first tea after my cooking projects were completed, I chose this tea from Kenya, figuring that it was probably suitable for accompanying flavorful, spicy foods. (Kenyan Cuisine uses lot’s of curries!).

The flavor was bright and clean with fruit and citrus, a sweetness that was light and smooth. I didn’t taste any malt and there was no nasty astringency.

You could very well drink this tea plain (which you can’t say about many black tea’s) and I found that a little sweetening brought out the fruitiness in a way that I liked best. Adding milk seemed too heavy. The body of the tea was light and in my opinion, milk isn’t needed.

There was an aftertaste of black pepper pound cake. This made me think further of what the tea would taste good alongside. I imagined a Denver Omlette, Chips and Salsa, Curry or Spicy Sausages. It can handle flavor packed food without getting lost!

Although the tea isn’t heavy, it’s sturdy enough and holds it’s own.
One of those indispensable tea’s when you can’t decide what to serve with a meal.

Very enjoyable tea!

(Although I haven’t been rating tea’s, it’s my choice to do so now and then. Since this company has 2 tea’s…I chose to rate the tea.)

Special thanks to Azzrian* for this one!

Both Azz and Bonnie did a GREAT job describing this one! Seriously, I can’t top them! :) You girls, ROCK!!!!!

In short, for me, Bold, Sturdy, Malty, Dark Coco/Chocolate, Dried Fruit hints really step forward! Very nice! Strong, bold, and terrific!

I received this sample for review from Wanja Tea a few days ago but saved it for tonight. Orange Pekoe is my hubby’s favorite tea, and since today is the 27th anniversary of the day we met I was making him one of his favorite dinners – pasta with home made garlic Alfredo sauce and vegetables, this time squash and zucchini. I melt a sprinkling of grated cheese on top as well.

The dry leaves are medium in size, dark, and twisty. The aroma of the dry leaf is a little sharp, like citrus, but when you steep the tea the aroma develops a beautiful round body that reminds me of golden raisins. As I drank this, I was reminded of my favorite Ceylon Orange Pekoe teas (I am not a fan of the minty or super lemony high grown ones) but with their citrus notes becoming a deeper tone (the golden raisins) and with the malty beauty of a nice Golden Monkey tea. There are other whispers of Fujian black teas in the cup as well.

This is full bodied, but not astringent. It feels…..thick! Very full and round. This was a very satisfying pot of tea and paired very nicely with the meal. The fruity aroma is very heady, and is haunting me even now, hours later. When my current stash of OP runs low, I would be happy to replace it with this!

Thank you, Wanja Tea!

This is exactly what I want when I say bold and brisk! Wow, this gets me going.

Astringent? Yes. Bitter? hmm.. kind of like an orange peel, or as with dark chocolate with dried up fruit bits. There is something almost sweet and soft to the cup, especially in beginning to mid sip, where it goes smooth in a creamy malty way. that smoothness coexists with the briskness in an appealing manner.

I added milk the first time I tried some a few days ago; it was pleasant, but I don’t feel the broth is thick enough to call for it. Also, that aforementioned softness balances out the potential harshness of the cup for me.

I second steeped it the other day as well, and it had all the strength of a Breakfast tea on first steep. It’s a potent cup! Today I’m going to see how long it can last. Edit- second steep today is definitely floral! Yum.

Thank you, Azzrian, for pointing me towards this! I can’t wait to try the purple tea next.

This is One Strong Tea.

Delicious, though. I added a little more honey than usual to bring out the floral notes, and also just because. A little soy creamer as well. It’s a little bitey on the tongue, but nothing really unexpected from a Strong Black Tea.

So good. Sadly I made a giant mug of it without thinking about resteeping, and now I have 3 teas waiting second infusions. Should be an interesting evening.

Edit: Ooh, I need to send some of this to my mom.

Also, another thanks to CrowKettle. Enough for me to share! Whee!!!