This may well blow your mind. A herbal infusion with stunning flavours of tomato vine, basil and lemon. It comes from the Kafa Biosphere Reserve in Ethiopia.
Grown by an all-woman cooperative of organic smallholding farmers.
Naturally caffeine free.
Tasting Notes
Tasting Notes
Koseret has complex and exciting flavours that are utterly unique. Described by a Noma chef as like a hit of slapped basil over fresh tomato. The taste is sweet and herbaceous, with bright lemon. In cold infusion the flavour is remarkably clean and pure. Both hot and cold, it makes an extremely refreshing drink.
Cost Per Cup
Cost Per Cup
17p per cup based on 1g of tea per 150ml of water and 3 infusions.
Origin
Origin
Andinet Spice Cooperative, Kaffa Biosphere Reserve, Ethiopia
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Recommended Infusion Guide
-
Quantity
For a hot infusion use 1g of leaf per 150ml of water.
For a cold infusion use 1g per litre of water. -
Temperature
For the optimum infusion use 100°C water.
For a cold infusion, fill at room temperature and place in the fridge to infuse. -
Time
Infuse for 1 - 3 minutes, tasting regularly.
(This is one of the rare herbal leafs that will become bitter with longer infusion, so make sure you try little and often.)
For a cold infusion, infuse for 8 hours or overnight. -
Infusions
You can infuse these herbs at least three times. With each careful infusion, different subtleties of flavour are revealed.
-
Quantity
For a hot infusion use 0.1 oz of leaf per 5.5 fl oz of water.
For a cold infusion use 0.1 oz of leaf per 35.5 fl oz of water. -
Temperature
For the optimum infusion use 212°F (100°C) water.
For a cold infusion, fill at room temperature and place in the fridge to infuse. -
Time
Infuse for 1 - 3 minutes, tasting regularly.
(This is one of the rare herbal leafs that will become bitter with longer infusion, so make sure you try little and often.)
For a cold infusion, infuse for 8 hours or overnight. -
Infusions
You can infuse these herbs at least three times. With each careful infusion, different subtleties of flavour are revealed.
-
Quantity
Use 1 heaped tsp. per 150ml of water.
-
Temperature
For the optimum infusion use 100°C water.
For a cold infusion, fill at room temperature and place in the fridge to infuse. -
Time
Infuse for 1 - 3 minutes, tasting regularly.
(This is one of the rare herbal leafs that will become bitter with longer infusion, so make sure you try little and often.)
For a cold infusion, infuse for 8 hours or overnight. -
Infusions
You can infuse these herbs at least three times. With each careful infusion, different subtleties of flavour are revealed.
More infusion tips
How to infuse your tea is very personal, and these are just our recommendations based on experience. Please experiment with these variables to your heart's delight. These are our recommendations, not hard and fast rules. The most delicious tea is the one you love.
Our guide uses a standard tea cup size (150ml/5.5 oz) as a measure, please adjust the quantity of leaf accordingly for less or more water. Our whole loose leaves are of such a high quality that you can infuse our teas at least twice, and the second infusion is often better than the first, with different flavours revealed as the leaf softens. If you prefer your tea stronger, add more leaf, don’t leave it for longer (this will just make it bitter).
Verveine d’Afrique
Koseret is a unique herbal tea of the lemon verbena family. In Ethiopian culture it is traditionally taken as tea to fight off flu and is used as a herb to flavour celebratory meals.
Lippia adoensis, its botanical name, honours Augustin Lippi, a French-Italian botanist who died on a journey to visit the Ethiopian emperor in 1703. In French it's called Verveine d'Afrique.
Andinet Spice Cooperative
Our Koseret is grown by the women of the Andinet Spice Cooperative. Andinet means "unity" in Amharic and together these women have built a cooperative. They tend small plots of land near their homes in the Kaffa Biosphere Reserve.
There are 80 women, across three cooperative groups. Most have less than a hectare of land. It is loaned to them by their husbands or fathers - mostly because the land is not in use or is unproductive. The herbs grown by the cooperatives not only create essential income for their families but also vital biodiversity.
Rare Tea donated 4000 seedlings to the cooperative in 2022.
The ladies don't have space or capacity to set up nurseries of their own right now. However, as the women generate more revenue, it encourages the men to give up more land for future nurseries and our women's plants.
Ultimately they will become entirely self-sufficient.
Kafa Biosphere Reserve, Ethiopia
Afromontane Cloud Forests
Our loose leaf Koseret is grown in the Kafa Biosphere Reserve, located in the stunning Afromontane cloud forests in southwest Ethiopia. Historically, this region was home to the Kingdom of Kaffa and is renowned as the birthplace of coffee.
The Biosphere Reserve was created to protect the biological diversity and cultural heritage of the people.
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