Zomba Pearls - A Unique "White" Tea from Malawi

"Situated about halfway between Mulanje and Blantyre, Thyolo - pronounced Cholo - is the tea capital of Malawi, and one of the oldest towns in the country. ... The main tourist focus in the Thyolo area is Satemwa Tea Estate, which was one of the first European land claims registered in Malawi, dating back to 1874, and has been in the same family since 1923, when it was acquired by Maclean Kay, a rubber planter from Malaya" (Briggs, 2013, p. 225).

The other day I had the chance to taste one of the more unique "white" teas I've ever had - the Zomba Pearls from the Satemwa Tea Estate. These intricately and tightly wound pearls were from the 2015 spring harvest, and I was highly intrigued to try them out. I have been searching for a couple good teas from Africa to fill out our tea selection at the cafe, but since most of my sources focus on China, Taiwan, and India I don't have a good starting point. I normally associate African teas with Kenya and Tanzania - except for Rooibos, which comes from South Africa - and was surprised to learn that Malawi has teas. Just goes to show how little I know!

It turns out, as I was researching Malawi and the Satemwa Tea Estate, that Malawi has the oldest tea culture in all of Africa. As part of the East India Company's search for new tea sources after losing the monopoly over the China tea trade at the turn of the 19th century, tea was planted in almost all of Britain's colonies. Seeds from the Royal Botanical Gardens in South Africa were planted in South Africa and Malawi, but they did not survive. Next, seeds from the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh were brought over and planted in 1878 - those survived and started the tea industry in Malawi. Now, that was at the height of the colonial period, and many of the tea estates in Malawi have changed hands since then, so it is hard to figure out exactly what tea varietal is currently planted on what estate. I have a query out concerning the tea plants on the Satemwa Tea Estate, and when I hear back I will update this post, but my assumption is that it is a clonal Assamica variety, based on the flavor of the tea and the size of the leaves.

[Update 9/26/2015 - I heard back from Tealet, who is now bringing in Satemwa teas to the U.S. Here is what they said: "The Malawi teas are from a mix of varietals developed over the years, majority Assamica and minority Sinensis. The Assamica teas were first brought in by Scottish growers - I'm not sure if Satemwa's material is sourced particularly from the Edinburgh Gardens, but some of Malawi's teas do trace back to there. Later cultivars were developed by the Tea Research Foundation of Central Africa: http://www.trfca.net/central.html. This is similar to Taiwan's Tea Research Extension Station, where the researchers help bring in new plant material and also help develop cultivars that are well-suited to the environment."]

"By 1995, 16% of the crop [in Malawi] was clonal tea. Estimates for 2004 predict 26% of the harvest will be under new clones" (Hall. 2000. Chapter 5, p. 25). Assamica varietals are not known for their white teas, even though every year I see more and more of them coming to market from India. Located on the slopes of Thyolo Mountain at an elevation of roughly 4,000' the Satemwa Tea Estate has produced a unique "white" tea called Zomba Pearls that seems to fit in with this trend.

Now, I don't know if giving a review is the right thing to do - tea is so unique, and a positive or negative review largely depends on the drinkers personal preferences, the water they use to brew the tea, the temperature of that water, steep times, and more. The way I brew tea may result in one flavor profile, while the way you brew tea may result in another. As such, I think reviews don't quite work with tea. That doesn't mean a nice presentation of a unique tea is not worthy of a post - on the contrary, it demands it.

The Zomba Pearls close up - very tightly woven together.

This is from the second steeping - they are not even close to opening up.

The leaves produced a nice liquor with an interesting flavor profile of green beans, cucumber, and the ever so slight flavorings of dried fruit.

One of the leaves fully opened - good size, looks like an Assamic clonal varietal to me.

Each one of the little "pearls" is made individually by hand. In order for the pearls to be formed, the freshly plucked leaves are not gathered in a basket as is typical on most tea estates, but rather each leaf is carefully layered on top of the other in the field so that the leaves are not damaged and can be stored fresh and cool. After 24 hours of withering, the leaves are rolled by hand and then immediately dried. That is the only processing that takes place, and it is for this reason that the tea is called a "white" tea. However, as one can see from the size of the leaves above, it is not a tea produced from the initial first buds that make up white teas in China. Rather, it looks to me to be a fairly mature leaf, so I would classify the tea as a green and not a white. But that begs the question - do you classify tea based on harvest time or the amount of processing that takes place with the leaves, or both?

The Zomba Pearls are certainly a unique tea, and if you are looking for something that can handle many, many steepings, this might be it. The pearls were not even fully open after 6 steepings in a gaiwan, and the liquor and flavor was still there just as in the first steeping. As a tea buyer I have to think about my customers and how this tea would do in the cafe. I might buy a pound or two depending on the price, but I think only tea connoisseurs or those who are adventurous in their tea drinking will select this tea - your everyday drinker might not know how to categorize it since they generally prefer a standard green or a strong black.

Sources Cite:

Briggs, Philip. 2013. Malawi. Bradt Travel Guides, Sixth Edition.

Hall, Nick. 2000. The Tea Industry. Cambridge, UK: Woodhead Publishing.