Dear group,

Does anyone know anything about west African teas? I was speaking with
a Hausa friend from Ghana and he mentioned that his father receives
deliveries of a local "tea" from the neighborhood teamonger. This is
apparently a handpicked something that comes in long, thin leaves. He
mentioned that it is a strong competitor for Lipton among the locals
because of its freshness. Maybe it's like mate or something. Any ideas?
Rufus T. Firefly
Tokyo

Must admit I've never heard of any tea out of any part of Africa other than
the northern parts. Love to hear what it's like.



"Rufus T. Firefly" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Dear group,
>
> Does anyone know anything about west African teas? I was speaking with
> a Hausa friend from Ghana and he mentioned that his father receives
> deliveries of a local "tea" from the neighborhood teamonger. This is
> apparently a handpicked something that comes in long, thin leaves. He
> mentioned that it is a strong competitor for Lipton among the locals
> because of its freshness. Maybe it's like mate or something. Any ideas?
> Rufus T. Firefly
> Tokyo
>

Must admit I've never heard of any tea out of any part of Africa other than
the northern parts. Love to hear what it's like.



"Rufus T. Firefly" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Dear group,
>
> Does anyone know anything about west African teas? I was speaking with
> a Hausa friend from Ghana and he mentioned that his father receives
> deliveries of a local "tea" from the neighborhood teamonger. This is
> apparently a handpicked something that comes in long, thin leaves. He
> mentioned that it is a strong competitor for Lipton among the locals
> because of its freshness. Maybe it's like mate or something. Any ideas?
> Rufus T. Firefly
> Tokyo
>

You sure he's not speaking of Roiboos, which is not really a tea, but it is
a bush that is harvested in Africa for it's long thin honey-fragrant leaves.
I actually drink this as opposed to breakfast teas. It holds milk very well
and has a natural sweetness.

"Rufus T. Firefly" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Dear group,
>
> Does anyone know anything about west African teas? I was speaking with
> a Hausa friend from Ghana and he mentioned that his father receives
> deliveries of a local "tea" from the neighborhood teamonger. This is
> apparently a handpicked something that comes in long, thin leaves. He
> mentioned that it is a strong competitor for Lipton among the locals
> because of its freshness. Maybe it's like mate or something. Any ideas?
> Rufus T. Firefly
> Tokyo
>

Falky m12/8/04


> Must admit I've never heard of any tea out of any part of Africa other than
> the northern parts. Love to hear what it's like.

I had drunk some whole leaf Kenyan tea acquired from "Nothing But Tea,"
which I found quite pleasant. Guest drinkers of black tea loved it. A bit
malty, a bit fruity, quite pleasing -- both guests and tea, that is..

Michael

>
>
>
> "Rufus T. Firefly" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
>> Dear group,
>>
>> Does anyone know anything about west African teas? I was speaking with
>> a Hausa friend from Ghana and he mentioned that his father receives
>> deliveries of a local "tea" from the neighborhood teamonger. This is
>> apparently a handpicked something that comes in long, thin leaves. He
>> mentioned that it is a strong competitor for Lipton among the locals
>> because of its freshness. Maybe it's like mate or something. Any ideas?
>> Rufus T. Firefly
>> Tokyo
>>
>
>

On 7 Dec 2004 16:54:25 -0800, Rufus T. Firefly wrote:

> Dear group,
>
> Does anyone know anything about west African teas? I was speaking with
> a Hausa friend from Ghana and he mentioned that his father receives
> deliveries of a local "tea" from the neighborhood teamonger. This is
> apparently a handpicked something that comes in long, thin leaves. He
> mentioned that it is a strong competitor for Lipton among the locals
> because of its freshness. Maybe it's like mate or something. Any ideas?
> Rufus T. Firefly
> Tokyo

My local tea shop has 4 varieties of black tea from Africa, 2 from
west Africa (Kenya and Tanzania), one from east Africa (Cameroon), and
one from the Isle of Mauritius off the western coast.

They're all pretty good teas, but the tea from Mauritius is my
favorite of the bunch. It's grown in the same fields as vanilla, so it
has a naturally subtle vanilla flavor.

There's also Rooibos, as WadeM mentioned.

--
Derek

No matter how great and destructive your problems may seem now,
remember, you've probably only seen the tip of them.

Derek > writes:

> On 7 Dec 2004 16:54:25 -0800, Rufus T. Firefly wrote:
>
> > Dear group,
> >
> > Does anyone know anything about west African teas? I was speaking with
> > a Hausa friend from Ghana and he mentioned that his father receives
> > deliveries of a local "tea" from the neighborhood teamonger. This is
> > apparently a handpicked something that comes in long, thin leaves. He
> > mentioned that it is a strong competitor for Lipton among the locals
> > because of its freshness. Maybe it's like mate or something. Any ideas?
> > Rufus T. Firefly
> > Tokyo
>
> My local tea shop has 4 varieties of black tea from Africa, 2 from
> west Africa (Kenya and Tanzania),

Uh, those countries are in *east* Africa.

> one from east Africa (Cameroon),

Make that "west".

> and one from the Isle of Mauritius off the western coast.

Eastern.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On 08 Dec 2004 10:24:07 -0500, Lewis Perin wrote:

> Derek > writes:
>
>> On 7 Dec 2004 16:54:25 -0800, Rufus T. Firefly wrote:
>>
>>> Dear group,
>>>
>>> Does anyone know anything about west African teas? I was speaking with
>>> a Hausa friend from Ghana and he mentioned that his father receives
>>> deliveries of a local "tea" from the neighborhood teamonger. This is
>>> apparently a handpicked something that comes in long, thin leaves. He
>>> mentioned that it is a strong competitor for Lipton among the locals
>>> because of its freshness. Maybe it's like mate or something. Any ideas?
>>> Rufus T. Firefly
>>> Tokyo
>>
>> My local tea shop has 4 varieties of black tea from Africa, 2 from
>> west Africa (Kenya and Tanzania),
>
> Uh, those countries are in *east* Africa.
>
>> one from east Africa (Cameroon),
>
> Make that "west".
>
>> and one from the Isle of Mauritius off the western coast.
>
> Eastern.

You know what, you're absolutely correct. My internal compass is off.
I'd better get that fixed before I try and go anywhere.

Dang, that's embarassing.

--
Derek

When birds fly in the right formation, they need only exert half the
effort. Even in nature, teamwork results in collective laziness.

On Tue, 07 Dec 2004 16:54:25 -0800, Rufus T. Firefly wrote:


> because of its freshness. Maybe it's like mate or something. Any ideas?
> Rufus T. Firefly


I call that Duck Tea

WadeM wrote:
> You sure he's not speaking of Roiboos, which is not really a tea, but it is
> a bush that is harvested in Africa for it's long thin honey-fragrant leaves.
> I actually drink this as opposed to breakfast teas. It holds milk very well
> and has a natural sweetness.

I thought about that too. Roiboos has a reddish/brown color. Maybe Rufus
could clarify that?

What kept me from posting: Roiboos sounds very much south african
(afrikaans) to me, and I don't think they speak that in Ghana. Then
again it might just have a diferent name there...

ciao
Patrick

--
"But please remember: this is only a work of Fiction.
The truth, as always, will be far stranger"

Arthur C. Clarke, 2001 - A Space Odyssey

WadeM wrote:
> You sure he's not speaking of Roiboos, which is not really a tea, but it is
> a bush that is harvested in Africa for it's long thin honey-fragrant leaves.
> I actually drink this as opposed to breakfast teas. It holds milk very well
> and has a natural sweetness.

I thought about that too. Roiboos has a reddish/brown color. Maybe Rufus
could clarify that?

What kept me from posting: Roiboos sounds very much south african
(afrikaans) to me, and I don't think they speak that in Ghana. Then
again it might just have a diferent name there...

ciao
Patrick

--
"But please remember: this is only a work of Fiction.
The truth, as always, will be far stranger"

Arthur C. Clarke, 2001 - A Space Odyssey

I'm fairly sure I asked him about rooibos and it seems he mentioned it
was something very local. It's probably some herb he's confused for
camillus sinensis (feel free to correct my spelling). Interestingly
enough, he mentioned that Senegalese tea is a favorite of the region.
It is made in the north African style (Morocco, etc.) with about 3
spoonfulls of sugar per person. But north Africans typically use
Chinese gunpowder (or so I was told by the Moroccan embassy recently)
and small cups like cappucino cups (Africa - go figure). I don't think
he considers Japanese tea to be "tea". If you can't fill the cup with
sugar what's the point, right? I was so very stupid. I thought he was
from Uganda and that's why I started the tea conversation in the first
place. Call it extreme cultural ignorance on my part, but I sadly doubt
that even most African-Americans would have a clue. Just a small
reminder of the inequalities of the world we live in. The crimes of the
last several thousand years continue to haunt us. Perhaps tea can help.
"Teas Across America?" "Tea are the world?" (Fairly horrible. My
apologies to all those with taste.)

Rufus T. Firefly
Tokyo

Derek wrote:
> On 7 Dec 2004 16:54:25 -0800, Rufus T. Firefly wrote:
>
> > Dear group,
> >
> > Does anyone know anything about west African teas? I was speaking
with
> > a Hausa friend from Ghana and he mentioned that his father receives
> > deliveries of a local "tea" from the neighborhood teamonger. This
is
> > apparently a handpicked something that comes in long, thin leaves.
He
> > mentioned that it is a strong competitor for Lipton among the
locals
> > because of its freshness. Maybe it's like mate or something. Any
ideas?
> > Rufus T. Firefly
> > Tokyo
>
> My local tea shop has 4 varieties of black tea from Africa, 2 from
> west Africa (Kenya and Tanzania), one from east Africa (Cameroon),
and
> one from the Isle of Mauritius off the western coast.
>
> They're all pretty good teas, but the tea from Mauritius is my
> favorite of the bunch. It's grown in the same fields as vanilla, so
it
> has a naturally subtle vanilla flavor.
>
> There's also Rooibos, as WadeM mentioned.
>
> --
> Derek
>
> No matter how great and destructive your problems may seem now,
> remember, you've probably only seen the tip of them.

On Thu, 09 Dec 2004 10:50:08 +0900, Patrick Heinze wrote:

> WadeM wrote:
>> You sure he's not speaking of Roiboos, which is not really a tea, but it is
>> a bush that is harvested in Africa for it's long thin honey-fragrant leaves.
>> I actually drink this as opposed to breakfast teas. It holds milk very well
>> and has a natural sweetness.
>
> I thought about that too. Roiboos has a reddish/brown color. Maybe Rufus
> could clarify that?
>
> What kept me from posting: Roiboos sounds very much south african
> (afrikaans) to me, and I don't think they speak that in Ghana. Then
> again it might just have a diferent name there...

All the Rooibos at my local shop is from South Africa. And according
to one site I found...

"Rooibos is grown only in a small area 250km north of Cape Town in the
Cedarberg area and no alternative source of supply of this unique
product is available anywhere in the world."


--
Derek

"If I couldn't laugh, I couldn't stand this job for 15 minutes." --
President Abraham Lincoln

>What kept me from posting: Roiboos sounds very much south african
>(afrikaans) to me, and I don't think they speak that in Ghana. Then
>again it might just have a diferent name there...


You're right. Not many people there speak afrikaans. They have a
national language and some other variants. They also speak 'piddgen'
if I spelled that right.


Mydnight

--------------------
thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

Derek wrote:

>>What kept me from posting: Roiboos sounds very much south african
>>(afrikaans) to me, and I don't think they speak that in Ghana. Then
>>again it might just have a diferent name there...

> All the Rooibos at my local shop is from South Africa. And according
> to one site I found...

> "Rooibos is grown only in a small area 250km north of Cape Town in the
> Cedarberg area and no alternative source of supply of this unique
> product is available anywhere in the world."

That's interesting. I always liked Rooibos, it's a nice tea for the
Winter Time.

Well, I know that Gunpowder is drunken in the northern africa. I guess
there should be some more consumption n this continent. But is there any
production of tea (made from camellia sinensis) in africa? Does anyone
know that?

ciao
Patrick
--
"But please remember: this is only a work of Fiction.
The truth, as always, will be far stranger"

Arthur C. Clarke, 2001 - A Space Odyssey

On Thu, 09 Dec 2004 16:56:28 +0900, Patrick Heinze wrote:

> Derek wrote:
>
>>>What kept me from posting: Roiboos sounds very much south african
>>>(afrikaans) to me, and I don't think they speak that in Ghana. Then
>>>again it might just have a diferent name there...
>
>> All the Rooibos at my local shop is from South Africa. And according
>> to one site I found...
>
>> "Rooibos is grown only in a small area 250km north of Cape Town in the
>> Cedarberg area and no alternative source of supply of this unique
>> product is available anywhere in the world."
>
> That's interesting. I always liked Rooibos, it's a nice tea for the
> Winter Time.
>
> Well, I know that Gunpowder is drunken in the northern africa. I guess
> there should be some more consumption n this continent. But is there any
> production of tea (made from camellia sinensis) in africa? Does anyone
> know that?
>
> ciao
> Patrick

Yes. From Cameroon, Kenya and Tanzania at least. As I noted in a
different post, my local shop has black teas from those three
locations as well as an island off of the *eastern* coast.

(See, Lew? I got it right this time.

--
Derek

Your role may be thankless, but if you're willing to give it your all,
you just might bring success to those who outlast you.

You can add Ethiopia to available African teas. I got a commercial
brand called Addis from their export Tea Development Enterprise.

Jim

Derek wrote:
> On Thu, 09 Dec 2004 16:56:28 +0900, Patrick Heinze wrote:
> > Well, I know that Gunpowder is drunken in the northern africa. I
guess
> > there should be some more consumption n this continent. But is
there any
> > production of tea (made from camellia sinensis) in africa? Does
anyone
> > know that?
> >
> > ciao
> > Patrick
>
> Yes. From Cameroon, Kenya and Tanzania at least. As I noted in a
> different post, my local shop has black teas from those three
> locations as well as an island off of the *eastern* coast.

You can add Ethiopia to available African teas. I got a commercial
brand called Addis from their export Tea Development Enterprise.

Jim

Derek wrote:
> On Thu, 09 Dec 2004 16:56:28 +0900, Patrick Heinze wrote:
> > Well, I know that Gunpowder is drunken in the northern africa. I
guess
> > there should be some more consumption n this continent. But is
there any
> > production of tea (made from camellia sinensis) in africa? Does
anyone
> > know that?
> >
> > ciao
> > Patrick
>
> Yes. From Cameroon, Kenya and Tanzania at least. As I noted in a
> different post, my local shop has black teas from those three
> locations as well as an island off of the *eastern* coast.

Hi everyone

I am new to this so its all trial and error.
I was wondering if anyone knew of any Tea Packers in Cameroon, Ghana, Toga, etc etc.
The company I work for, supplies Teabag Filter Paper & Coffee Filter Paper
and we are looking to Branch out into West Africa.
Your help would be much appreciated
Thanks
Candice