Zomba Pearls

Quantity of tea leaves: 3 gram
Temperature of water: 70° – 80°
Infusion time: 3 minutes
Maximum number of infusions: 2 times

Begin by heating water to 70°-80°C, the ideal temperature range to unlock the delicate and nuanced flavours of Zomba Pearls. For a Western-style brew, place about 3 grams of Zomba Pearls into your teapot or infuser (about 250 ml), ensuring there is ample space for the leaves to unfurl and release their essence. Pour the heated water over the leaves, fully covering them, and let them steep for 3 minutes for the initial infusion.

As the pearls slowly open, you can enjoy multiple infusions; the first few can be longer to allow the pearls to start unfurling. Once the leaves begin to open, you can reduce the infusion time, but increase it again for the final infusions.

Zomba Pearls performs exceptionally well when brewed gong fu style in a gaiwan or similar smaller vessel, using around 5-7 grams of leaf. If you prefer a bolder flavour, slightly increasing the water temperature will result in a more pronounced, slightly astringent infusion.

As the leaves unfurl and the infusion takes on a gorgeous amber hue, Zomba Pearls will reveal its complex, evolving profile over multiple steepings, offering a consistently smooth and creamy texture.

Read more about how to brew a delicious cup of tea.

Zomba Pearls is a unique white tea that offers a delightful sensory experience, setting it apart from other white teas. The dry leaves exude a sweet aroma reminiscent of dark chocolate truffles and sandalwood, with a light hint of lightly roasted rock oolongs with their cacao-like toasted and mineral tones.

Enjoy the refreshing flavours of freshly baked lemon meringue, accompanied by a subtle natural sweetness and delicate floral notes, reminiscent of exquisite champagne and meadows abundant with herbs and wildflowers. This progresses to savoury hints and herbaceous, dry hay, and lightly woody notes.

The infusion reveals a clean, beautiful amber colour as the leaves unfurl. This smooth tea has a creamy texture with hints of raisins and tangy zest in the aftertaste. Zomba Pearls is an excellent and highly unusual white tea – a real must-try!

Tea production in Malawi, a landlocked country in southeastern Africa, dates back to 1891 when Jesuit missionaries from Scotland introduced Chinese tea bushes via the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, making it the first African country to cultivate tea commercially. The country’s tea-growing regions, particularly Thyolo, Nkhata Bay, and Mulanje, benefit from high altitudes, rich volcanic soils, and a subtropical climate, creating an ideal terroir for tea cultivation.

Malawi primarily produces black tea for the CTC (cut-tear-curl) market, known for its strong, brisk flavour and vibrant colour, but there is also a growing interest in green and specialty teas. As one of the top tea producers in Africa, Malawian tea is a key export product, contributing significantly to the country’s economy.

Nestled in the Shire Highlands of the Thyolo district, Satemwa Tea Estate is a picturesque landscape of rolling tea gardens and pristine mahogany forests, producing a wide range of black, green, oolong, white, and dark teas. Tea here is grown at an altitude of 1000-1200 metres above sea level, produced from various local unique cultivars, and the bushes are relatively young, the plantations being 50+ years old.

Founded in 1923 by Scot MacLean Kay, the estate transformed from a tobacco farm to a tea nursery, planting its first fields in 1926 and opening the factory in 1937. Historically, much of Satemwa’s production catered to the CTC market, supplying major brands like Pickwick, Lipton, Tetley, and Yellow Label.

Today, under the leadership of third-generation farmer Alexander Kay and a dedicated team including Chisomos Custitomu and Fadson Mandala, Satemwa has shifted its focus to specialty teas, emphasising craftsmanship and quality to sustain employment and enhance the income of the local community. As one of the last independent, family-run farms in Malawi, Satemwa boasts diverse crops, including tea, coffee, hibiscus, and various herbs, while maintaining protected areas of ancient indigenous forest.

This biodiversity supports numerous species and enriches the land, further nurtured by the estate’s sustainable practices and year-round employment for its workers. In 2009, the smallholders of Satemwa obtained Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance certification, with gender equality and climate change mitigation high on the list of priorities for the estate. The emphasis on handcrafting rather than mechanisation ensures high-quality artisan tea.

Read more about Satemwa Tea Estate.

The hand-picked tea leaves are from the Zomba cultivar, with a picking standard of one bud and two leaves.

Since the 1960s, Satemwa has worked hard to develop endemic Malawian cultivars adapted to the unique terroir and specific climate. Ever since then they continue to conduct extensive research on climate change-resistant varieties, creating a unique style for their one-of-a-kind teas.

After hand-plucking and some withering, the hand-rolling technique of Zomba Pearls is unparalleled. It is rare to see any other tea producer creating such an intriguing, tightly wrapped shape of finished tea leaves, which are then carefully dried in a sustainable wood-fueled micro drier.

The leaves possess an almost dreamy and mystical appearance, as if mythological fairies crafted these elliptical dark olive-green cocoons. With only around 20 kg produced each year, Zomba Pearls is a rare gem. It received 2nd place at the 2024 Toronto Tea Festival in the white tea category.

Read more about white tea in our blog.

Properly storing the Zomba Pearls tea leaves is crucial to retain its freshness and flavor. The key is to protect them from the elements that can compromise their quality: air, heat, light, and moisture.

Read more about how to store loose-leaf tea.