Kenya: Leader in Black Tea Production
Highland-tea-farmKenya is one of Africa's oldest tea-producing countries. The earliest reference to tea growing dates back a hundred years to 1903. It is believed that a British settler living in Kenya's western highlands imported the first Camellia Sinensis seedlings from India and planted them on a two-acre farm on an experimental basis. By 1928, Kenya's teas were being sold at the London Tea Auction and by the 1950s, Kenya had become a significant player in the international tea market. A hundred years later, Kenya's annual tea production of approximately 295,000 tons makes her the world's fourth-largest producer of tea after India, China, and SriLanka, and contributes up to 28% of Kenya's export earnings.
Kenya MapKenya, on the Eastern coast of Africa, is one of the world's biggest grower of black tea. Kenya being so close to the equator enjoys tea production all year round. The country is endowed with tropical, volcanic red soil and well-distributed rainfall and the main feature that makes It has more than 110,000 hectares of land devoted to tea. In Kenya, tea is grown in the highland areas with adequate rainfall and low temperatures. The main tea-growing area is in the Kenyan Highlands, west of the Rift Valley, at altitudes between 5,000 and 9,000 feet.
Kenyan tea is a favorite for many commercial blenders because it tends to have more infusion-giving surfaces and thus brews a stronger tea per unit weight of leaf than most other black teas. It is not uncommon to find blenders mixing high-quality Kenyan tea with teas of lower standards, to achieve an acceptable strength and flavor.
All of Kenya's teas sold through the Mombasa Auction are CTC ("cut, tear, curl") teas, one of two main methods of processing black tea. The alternative method, recently introduced by KTDA, is the traditional "orthodox" method. The CTC process produces smaller leaf particles that give a stronger, quicker brew, making them ideal for use in tea bags. The orthodox method produces larger particles of leaf and is used for most high quality loose-leaf teas.
Kenya MapKenya, on the Eastern coast of Africa, is one of the world's biggest grower of black tea. Kenya being so close to the equator enjoys tea production all year round. The country is endowed with tropical, volcanic red soil and well-distributed rainfall and the main feature that makes It has more than 110,000 hectares of land devoted to tea. In Kenya, tea is grown in the highland areas with adequate rainfall and low temperatures. The main tea-growing area is in the Kenyan Highlands, west of the Rift Valley, at altitudes between 5,000 and 9,000 feet.
Kenyan tea is a favorite for many commercial blenders because it tends to have more infusion-giving surfaces and thus brews a stronger tea per unit weight of leaf than most other black teas. It is not uncommon to find blenders mixing high-quality Kenyan tea with teas of lower standards, to achieve an acceptable strength and flavor.
All of Kenya's teas sold through the Mombasa Auction are CTC ("cut, tear, curl") teas, one of two main methods of processing black tea. The alternative method, recently introduced by KTDA, is the traditional "orthodox" method. The CTC process produces smaller leaf particles that give a stronger, quicker brew, making them ideal for use in tea bags. The orthodox method produces larger particles of leaf and is used for most high quality loose-leaf teas.
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