If you ever wondered if there are dark teas produced outside of Asia, here is the answer. Satemwa Dark Tea is a unique dark Malawi tea with mellow soul and expressed personality.

First dark teas were created in China. Although some people call all dark teas simply „pu’er“, there is a big difference in production, terroir and leaf material used to produce pu’er and other dark teas. Real pu’ers were the raw ones, with the ripe or shu type being invented a bit more than 40 years ago. Some might argue that ripe pu’er is not a real thing, but it does have its own charm. Especially for me. I love shu pu’er if it’s done properly and doesn’t stink of bricks and mould in one. I was dying to try Satemwa’s dark tea, as I had no idea what to expect.

Satemwa Dark Tea

Name: Satemwa Dark Tea
Producer: Satemwa Tea Estate (Malawi)
Tea Type: Malawi dark tea

If it looks like pu’er, it must be a pu’er

Or not. Looks can be deceiving, as this tea really can pass under the regular loose leaf pu’er. It has a scent of woodsy fresh land with a bit of citric note. Leaves are washed-out brown in color, small and broken. It smells very very nice. Nothing unusual, nothing suspicious … And then I placed them in a heated teapot. They literally smell as if you would take a handful of fresh rich soil and placed it in a teapot. There are no bricky or mouldy notes.

Satemwa Dark Tea

Unique Character of Satemwa Dark Tea

Brewing: 4 min, 150 ml, 95 degrees, 1 min, 15 sec, 25 sec, 35 sec…

If it looks like pu’er and smells like pu’er, then I should brew it like pu’er as well. And oh, how good it was. I was surprised how many infusions these amazing little leaves offered. Expect nothing less than 9-10, or you are doing something very wrong. After the first steeping leaves get a unique scent of boiled buttered spinach, placed on a moss covered patch of fresh rich dark soil. This scent is here after the second infusion as well, only even more pronounced. Color is brown-orange-red, medium-full. Scent is so light and refreshing, absolutely matches the scent of wet leaves. Has a bit of a feeling like a sea air breezing through rich soil covered in damp moss. There is no bitterness at all, just super mellow and warm scent.

Satemwa Dark Tea

After the fourth steeping, earthly tone gets a bit more expressed in wet leaves. Fifth and sixth infusions are even a bit sweeter, but still with the exact character and same intensity. And this lasts until the end.

My Cup of Tea

Satemwa Dark TeaI love dark teas. I’m a huge fan of pu’er, both raw and ripe, don’t really care unless it’s poorly made. I love other dark teas as well. And Satemwa’s tea is a type of tea I could drink more and more. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea because of the moss/spinach/earth combination of flavors. It offers an incredible number of infusions, which is only a proof how Satemwa dark tea was made with lots of love and care. Is it an everyday dark tea? Maybe not. I would consider it more of a dessert dark tea after a really nice meal when you want to continue with good expressed flavors. This tea is not strong, but it is very intense.

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