Malawian Tea

This collection of pure herbs and loose leaf tea from Malawi comes exclusively from Satemwa, an independent, family-owned farm in Shire Highlands.

We have been working together with Alex and his team since 2007 and are incredibly proud and grateful for the long friendship, incredible innovation and world-class Malawian loose leaf tea they grow and craft for us. Here you will find exclusive harvests and single estate loose leaf blends made with us and for us. Read more...

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Satemwa's ambition has always been to create a thriving community and rich ecosystem. They have areas of protected virgin forests within the farm that are animal migration pathways and home to many rare species of birds and ancient trees. This beautiful Malawian land is farmed organically - pesticide and herbicide free. Satemwa make their own organic "tea" fertiliser to enrich the soil. They create diversity with tree planting, coffee and herbs and offer seedlings to smallholders to grow more of these organic herbs.

Malawi tea makes up a small percentage of the world's tea supply but it is a huge part of their economy. In Malawi, tea is the second largest export and second largest employer in the country.

When we are asked what Malawi tea tastes like, we wonder if people might ask the same question about French wines. It's almost impossible to answer. The taste really depends on the varietal planted, how it is harvested and how it has been crafted.

Rare Tea Co. offers several types of loose leaf tea grown in Malawi, all exclusively from Satemwa - white, green, black and pu'er. We also have a wide selection of caffeine-free Malawian herbal teas.

Our White Peony and Antlers are only from a small, single field that has been reserved exclusively for Rare Tea Company - meaning there is no other tea in the world like our Malawi Antlers - although others might bear the same name. At the other end of the tea spectrum, we have Lost Malawi English Breakfast Tea a black tea that is blended from several harvests across the farm to create a single estate English Breakfast tea of incredible quality and flavour.

Satemwa also offers extraordinary innovation, like Malawi Leafy Pu'er, a fermented tea with warm, earthy notes that is traditionally only found in China. Malawi Green Tea is a steamed green tea in the Japanese style that comes from Chinese tea seed planted in the 1920's. And our famous Malawi Mountain Moto is smoked with guava leaf and stem.

We are proud to work with Satemwa, who have championed orthodox tea making in Malawi. The most prized tea anywhere in the world is orthodox tea - meaning the leaves have been crafted in small batches, not produced by large machines. Whether the tea is hand rolled like our Moto, or made on an orthodox roller like our Lost Malawi or even CTC like our Black Iced Tea - each tea that we source from Satemwa is expertly made to be the very best. We only ever buy tea for the highest quality and never for the largest quantity or cheapest price.