Kirimara Sunrise, Kenya

While many of the world's tea regions are beautiful places, Kenya's Central Highlands really is something special. To walk through its hillside tea gardens early in the morning, the sun rising on the distant horizon… well, words can't do it justice really. Thankfully, you can transport yourself there any time with this stunning tea from the Imenti Tea Factory. Maroon in colour, with rich biscuit and malt notes, the tea finishes with an exotically smoky complexity that is so evocative of its terroir.

Imenti sources its tea leaves from over 1200 hectares of gardens in the lowlands of Mount Kenya (known as Kirimara by the local Ameru people). At 2000 metres above sea level, the tea bushes thrive on the region's red volcanic soil. To create shade and retain humidity so the tea leaves are of the highest quality, the smallholder tea farmers plant grevillea and avocado trees among the bushes. Most tea produced by Imenti is CTC, but we were lucky to source this top quality whole leaf Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe Special. We prefer it with milk, but brewed gently it's equally delicious by itself.