By The Tea Writer
Today’s tea – Mountain Kenya by Mark T. Wendell Tea of West Concord, MA. Kenya has become a major tea contender, supplying more than 1/3 of all of England’s tea. It is also the world’s third largest tea exporter. Its teas are known to be strong and bracing morning beverages. Most Kenyan tea is CTC (Cut Tear Curl, as opposed to more labor intensive orthodox harvesting/processing methods) and many Kenyan teas are used in blending.
This tea is a blend of small leaf teas from Africa. This particular tea appeared to be a Broken Orange Pekoe (although it was not specifically labeled.) The dry leaf was small and dark, reminiscent of freshly ground coffee. There was a strong, rich scent. I tried two different brewing times with this tea. Both the 4 minute and 5 minute infusions had rich brown liquors. The 4 minute seemed slightly brighter (clearer) than the 5 minute. The taste was drastically different. The 5 minute brew was actually smoother than the shorter steep. I certainly expected the opposite to be true. It was robust and strong. It reminded me of classic breakfast teas (which makes sense since many breakfast teas are a blend of Kenyan teas and Assams.)
Definitely a great wake-you-up cup of tea. I would be curious to compare this to other Kenyan teas. I liked this tea very much but in deciding on a re-purchase I would need to really think about how it compared to other, more readily available 
(and likely less expensive), breakfast blends.
Tea: Mountain Kenya
Source: Mark T. Wendell Tea
Type: Black tea
Brewing details: 1 tsp at 212 degrees for 5 minutes
Comment: Good strong breakfast tea.
