Asami Tea is a tea company with blends crafted to take you around the continent of Africa, bringing the centuries-old culture and healthy practices into your cup. Their teas are bold, zesty, spicy, delicate, smooth, and subtle, all coming from African artisan farmers. They sent me five of their teas, two of them actually unreleased on their website. Here are my thoughts:

Ashanti Cocoa: The first thing I notice about this tea, is the heavy Chocolate aroma that wafts up to my nose aka cocoa nibs. I was bracing myself for this to be a 100% chocolate tasting tea, but I did get a bit surprised. Upon my first sip, I was reminded almost a bit of a chai but with heavy chocolate front. It actually brought back a memory of being in Spanish class in 7th grade and the teacher brought in some Mexican Hot Chocolate. I forgot I even had that memory, so it was crazy that this tea brought that back to the front. The tea is quite smooth and actually has almost a slick characteristic of it which I normally do see in teas that have cocoa nibs.

Ingredients: Black tea, cocoa nibs, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, chili, clove, black pepper, proprietary spice blend

Zanzibrew: I actually put this in my gaiwan after closing my eyes and picking which tea I would try of the bunch. I probably should have stuck to Western brewing techniques, but it still worked out well in my favor. The aroma of the dry leaves was chocolatey with caramel notes. It reminded me of a dessert or RX bar with some maple syrup sweetness sneaking in. As I brewed the tea, I sensed a chocolate cake (maybe dark chocolate) aroma waft from the cup. The color was a nice reddish-brown brew. Not being able to wait any longer, I went in for the sip. There was a beautiful blend of chocolate and black tea. I was not overwhelmed by the flavors, but instead they gently sat on my taste buds. I had about four infusions in my gaiwan until it became a bit weaker; I just added more leaves to let the fun last a bit longer. The ingredient list was not available yet as this was a unreleased sample from Asami to be released in November.

Ingredients: Black Tea, Natural Flavor

Mozambique Breeze: As I brewed this tea, even as I measured it out, I noticed a chocolate like note waft up to my nose. Investigating more, I felt as if there was this creamy tannin like note coming out. Taste: very smooth and lovely to sip on. Again there was this creamy element to the tea that was quite attractive to my senses. As I sipped (and slurped) the tea, I noticed a slight sour note with warm tannins behind it. Everything about this blend was just warming and made it a perfect fall blend. I was enjoying every second of it. It had a reddish orange color to it. The taste of the tea did not linger too long on the taste buds but that warming feeling continued to move through my body. With each sip, I felt my diaphragm relax a bit and my middle just feel a sense of calm. I really enjoyed this tea. And enjoyed this as well as the second steeping! This was also a unreleased sample that will be coming to their website in November.

Ingredients: Organic Black Tea

Rwandan Black Tea: I drank this tea multiple times when traveling up north and loved the way that the aroma just filled up the car. The tea brewed an auburn/amber coloring with an extremely aromatic aroma to the tea. I picked up on some strong, slight chocolate notes with bits of tannin notes. It seemed a bit more mellow though in the aroma. The taste, however, is strong and I could just feel the warmth and caffeine spread through my body. I intentionally brewed this one a bit stronger to see how the tea would come out (and ya know…caffeine). I really love how aromatic this tea was the entire time, almost hitting your face with every sip. When brewed a bit less strong, this tea is quite mellow and the tannins almost embrace the tongue. As it brews more, there is a slight astringency and slight drying factor that occurs. The entire brew is quite malty and tannic, but not in a bad or overwhelming way. 

Walvis Bay Wonder: I really, really enjoyed this tea. It brought a smile on my face in the early meetings that I faced, and I really just enjoyed it. It almost became overwhelming that I could not focus on the notes of the tea. The dry leaves had a caramel-or-toffee-like sweet aroma almost like hazelnut, that was quite sweet comparatively. When brewing the tea had more of a decadent aroma, with caramel notes and vanilla, teasing in and out of my nose. I had to try it. The taste of this tea was quite smooth, with sweet and vanilla caramel dessert tea vibes. The natural sweetness of the tea settles on the palet and embraces you tongue. It reminds me a bit of a salted caramel chocolate treat. I was shocked to find out that there were only two ingredients in this tea but I felt like there were so many more.

Ingredients: Honeybush tea, natural hazelnut flavor.

Price: The Ashanti Cocoa is priced at $13.97 for 15 tea sachets, Rwandan Black Tea is priced at $11.97 for 100 grams of loose leaf tea, and Walvis Bay Wonder is $14.97 for 100 grams of loose leaf tea. I do think that it is a bit pricy for the tea sachets, but like always, the loose leaf tea is fairly priced.

Packaging: The teas arrived in tea pouches that were pretty decent at holding in the aroma of teas in.

Sourcing: All of these teas are sourced somewhere in Africa. The Walvis Bay Wonder is from Namibia (they do not straight out say it is, but it is suggested). The Rwandan Black Tea is from Rwanda, Land of a Thousand Hills. The Ashanti Cocoa is from the Ashanti Region in Ghana. I am not certain where some of the unreleased blends are from region wise, but I am sure they are also from Africa. Below is some graphics about some of the main tea areas in Africa!

I hope you enjoyed this tea review. I was quite impressed by the variety and versatility of blends that originated in Africa, being a country that I do not have a lot of teas from. What are your thoughts? Happy Brewing!

-Danielle