"What kind of tea do you like" ? asked the lady at Inzora Cafe in Kacyiru, Kigali, which like all the best tea/coffee places these days, is attached to a book shop and offers fantastic views of Kigali.
At the outset her tea selection was minimal. However when i told her Chinese teas were my thing, she immediately pointed me to Silver Tips by Sorwathe. Sorwathe is a massive tea concern in Rwanda, it may even be government owned, and has started on its journey into speciality tea. I was intrigued.
The cafe lady told me to let it steep for a few mins and I was immediately suspicious....no good Chinese tea should be steeped for more than a minute on first brewing! However this is a relatively common faux-pas in european tea shops too (over-brewing green and white teas).
Note that over brewing usually leads to the teas tasting bitter no matter how careful you are with water temp or how quality the tea is.
Silver Tip [White??, faintly woody] ** $ at Inzora Cafe, Kigali, Rwanda
This tea looks a little like Silver Needle, I have no idea if its a white or green or black tea but I would suspect from the very faint nutty smell of the leaves and its pale colour it a white tea.
After brewing for longer than I would ever brew a tea, I still had only the vaguest flavor from the tea. Mind you, they used very very little leaves: a tiny teaspoon as far as I could tell.
It is certainly a chinese style tea but beyond being warming and tea-like I could discern a flavor...leading me to conclude that the tea is the very definition of inoffensive.
Similar Teas: White teas?.
At the outset her tea selection was minimal. However when i told her Chinese teas were my thing, she immediately pointed me to Silver Tips by Sorwathe. Sorwathe is a massive tea concern in Rwanda, it may even be government owned, and has started on its journey into speciality tea. I was intrigued.
The cafe lady told me to let it steep for a few mins and I was immediately suspicious....no good Chinese tea should be steeped for more than a minute on first brewing! However this is a relatively common faux-pas in european tea shops too (over-brewing green and white teas).
Note that over brewing usually leads to the teas tasting bitter no matter how careful you are with water temp or how quality the tea is.
Silver Tip [White??, faintly woody] ** $ at Inzora Cafe, Kigali, Rwanda
This tea looks a little like Silver Needle, I have no idea if its a white or green or black tea but I would suspect from the very faint nutty smell of the leaves and its pale colour it a white tea.
After brewing for longer than I would ever brew a tea, I still had only the vaguest flavor from the tea. Mind you, they used very very little leaves: a tiny teaspoon as far as I could tell.
It is certainly a chinese style tea but beyond being warming and tea-like I could discern a flavor...leading me to conclude that the tea is the very definition of inoffensive.
Similar Teas: White teas?.
