How do you like your cup of tea? Black or with milk? Well, whatever your preference, it is only through a process of tea tasting that you are able to decide what works for you. Over the years, tea from Kenya has received international acclaims for its taste and aroma. To get to this, a rigorous process of atomizing, rolling in the mouth and spitting out the tea after each sip is done to more than 20 varieties of tea products so that only the best goes to the market. From the time the tea leaves the farm to when it gets to the supermarket, the judgment and view of a tea taster is key in determining the quality and value of tea. This translates to the bonuses the small-scale tea farmers get at the end of the year.
Tea tasting is the process of determining the quality of tea or ascertaining its quality prior to selling or blending. Meet Vincent Mwingirwa, a renowned tea taster in the country. He ensures that the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) which produces over 60 per cent of Kenya's tea is appreciated and fetches money locally and internationally.
This then generates a good income to farmers and the country through foreign exchange. "In Kenya, there is no school training on tea tasting, per se. This is a skill that we in KTDA develop on the job. One must have a lot of interest in it and the more one does it, the better a tea taster one becomes. All KTDA staff members supervising tea production in the factories must of essence develop this talent," said the KTDA quality assurance and new product development manager. In India one can attain a certificate on tea tasting at the Indian Institute of Plantation Management. The certificate programme which takes a duration of close to one month is open to tea manufactures, tea buyers, planters, plant associations, brokerages, blenders and the beverage sector. According to Mwingirwa, there are certain key components in tea tasting.
“In the tea leaves we look for color or leaf appearance, cleanliness and the freedom from tea fibre and non-tea material. This is about trueness of the grade," says Mwingirwa who has been at the business for 15 years, adding that this visual aspect also includes physical smelling of the leaf to get the aroma. The appearance of the leaves gives you a hint of the quality of tea and full tea leaves tend to be better than broken ones. The other component is the infusion which is well described by the colour and texture to tell how well fermentation was done. The third important component in tea tasting is the liquor or liquid which is judged by the brightness, colour and depth which are visual. Then the briskness, strength, flavour and aroma are tasted through the mouth. “Traditionally, tea is supposed to be black, grainy and free from fibre. The leaf should be neat and the particles should be granular in appearance and should not be mixed with other grades. The liquor should be bright, flavoury and/or strong and brisk," said Mwingirwa. The infusion should have a coppery bright colour after proper fermentation has taken place. Fermentation is the oxidation process where the leaf turns from green to coppery bright. After selective hand plucking of two leaves and a bud, the tea then goes to the collecting centre for weighing and later to the tea factory.
Withering, which is both a chemical and physical process takes place in the factory and this according to Mwingirwa happens 6-12 hours after plucking but the duration varies with the weather. " The leaf then goes to the rotor vane chamber for a process of maceration where it is crushed and the cell sap is squeezed out and mixed. This is done to encourage chemical reactions that will result to the desired characteristics of tea," he said. “We then have the cut tear curl (CTC) process where the teeth arrangements are specific to cut the leaf into fine particles. Next is the fermentation area where fermentation takes place under controlled temperatures for about one and a half hours depending on the prevailing weather. The warmer the temperatures the shorter the fermentation process and the colder it is the longer the process.
The tealeaves (dhool) turn from green to coppery bright." Thereafter, it proceeds to the drying area to halt the fermentation process and increase the shelf life of the tea. The tea is dried to about three to four percent moisture content after which sorting and grading is done. Here, separation of individual primary and secondary grades is done. Mwingirwa explains that tea grading is based on the particle sizes. Tea tasting is done before it is packed in pallets and then transported to the Mombasa warehouse for sale through auction and other channels to different local and international tea buyers.
There are six criteria used to classify tea; namely, best, good, good medium, medium, lower medium and plainer sorts. Before the tea goes to the auction, various people have to undertake the tea tasting process to ascertain the quality before committing their money. “The first stage of tea tasting happens right at the tea factory after every one hour to check quality. Next process is done at the agency's quality assurance and product development unit then by the brokers. Samples are also sent to various local and international buyers who taste the tea before making a decision on the product they want. Many of these international buyers are blenders and they only bid for the best quality tea," adds Mwingirwa. Main markets of Kenya tea are Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan ,Egypt and Sudan who have a high preference for black clean leaf; and the UK and Ireland whose preference is bright, thick and strong flavored liquors.
A survey published in the Daily Mail suggests that three percent of people in Britain liked their tea very milky while nine percent liked it strong. It also says that tea was seen as a comfort drink with 43 per cent of people claiming they feel better after a cup of tea. In Kenya, most people prefer tea with milk brewed for a long time with a few opting for a cup of black. Today there are varieties to choose from including ginger, lemon, cinnamon and herbal teas.