Java Golden Black

Indonesia is one of the top coffee producing and exporting countries in the world.   Indonesia also produces and exports tea, mostly black tea for blending.   The cultivation of coffee and tea dates back to the Dutch colonization during 17th and 18th centuries.   The island of Java, with its tropical climate and rich volcanic soil, is the heartland of tea and coffee farming.

'Java' may be synonymous with coffee but this Java Golden is a premium-grade black tea.  It contains young gold leaves that make a cup of rich and strong tea, strong enough to sustain a person all night writing Java code.

Java Gold

Type:  Black   Country: Indonesia   Preparation:  95°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:  The small, short and wiry leaves are gold and brown.   Their aroma is dark fruity (raisins and prunes).
Wet Leaf:  The wet leaves have a wet straw smell to them.
Liquor:      The tea is bright coppery in color.   It is brisk, spicy, lightly floral, with a coffee undertone.  It is excellent with milk and sugar.

Tee Score: 4 of 5

Tanzania Livingstonia

Tanzania, home to Mount Kilimanjiro, is the fourth largest tea producer in Africa after Kenya, Malawi and Uganda.  Over 75% of Tanzanian tea is exported.

German settlers first introduced and planted tea in Tanzania in 1902 and after World War II the British took over tea plantations.  Since her independence from Great Britain in 1961, Tanzania continues to cultivate tea in three major areas: south, northeast and northwest zones.

This Livingstonia tea is named after David Livingstone, a well-known 19th century Scottish medical missionary and explorer in Africa.  The tea is not as strong as regular African tea found in some tea bags.  It is a lighter black tea, somehow reminiscent of Lover's Leap from Sri Lanka.  

Livingstonia

Type:  Black    Country: Tanzania    Preparation:  95°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:  The chopped pieces of dried leaves are raisiny.
Wet Leaf:  The wet leaves are brown and faintly floral.
Liquor:      The tea is reddish brown.   It is light to medium-bodied but with noticeable astringency.  It is slightly citrusy, spicy and floral.

Tee Score: 3 of 5