Coppery in the cup with ruby highlights and a light body, this blend of Assam and Kenya black leaf pours a malty, brisk cup with earthy undertones underneath — the kind that reads honeyed and faintly coffee-like once milk goes in. Lemon shows up at the edges too, alongside a thick, rounded mouthfeel that carries the malt through to the finish.
The blend has a long history behind it. Richard Smith brought the idea back to the UK after time in India in the 1970s and, with his mother Janet, began hand-packing it from bulk chests into retail packs — their first buyer was the local Pluckley shop. That work led the pair to found The Kent and Sussex Tea and Coffee Company in 1982, and Tea & Coffee still packs it fresh to order rather than holding stock, which keeps the batches consistent.
The Assam side comes from the plains and plateau country around the Brahmaputra and the Himalayan foothills, a region with heavy annual rainfall and constant humidity that suits the assamica tea plant well. The Kenya component grows at altitude in the highlands west of the Rift Valley, between roughly 1,500 and 2,700 metres, in a tea industry that only found its footing in the early twentieth century.
To brew it, use freshly boiled water and steep for three to five minutes. It takes milk, sugar, honey or lemon comfortably, or drink it black if you'd rather taste the malt and earth notes on their own.
