Ingredients
Tea
- 4heaped tsp Malawian CTC black tea, or 4 tea bags
- 800 mlwater, freshly drawn
To serve
- 200 mlwhole milk
- 4–8 tspsugar, to taste
- Optional: 1 slice fresh ginger, or a strip of lemon peel
Accompaniments
- Mandasi (fried dough buns), or bread and margarine
Directions
- Know the leaf: Malawi was the first African country to grow tea commercially, from 1878, and the estates on the slopes of Mulanje and around Thyolo produce almost all of it. Most is CTC (crush, tear, curl) black tea, made for strength and colour in the cup.
- Bring fresh cold water to a full rolling boil. Water that has been boiled twice has lost its dissolved oxygen and gives a flat, dull brew.
- Warm the pot with a splash of the boiling water, swirl and pour it away.
- Add the tea to the warmed pot, one heaped teaspoon per cup, and pour on the water while it is still boiling. CTC needs genuinely boiling water to open.
- Steep 3–5 minutes. CTC extracts fast; at 3 minutes you get brisk and coppery, at 5 it turns dark, tannic and bracing, which is how it is usually drunk.
- For the everyday Malawian style, put the milk and sugar into the cup first, then pour the hot tea over, which prevents the milk scalding.
- Alternatively simmer the tea, milk, water and sugar together in a pan for 4–5 minutes, stirring, and strain into cups, the method used at roadside stalls.
- Stir and taste: it should be strong enough that the milk turns it a warm terracotta, not beige, and sweet enough to round the tannin.
- Serve very hot with mandasi for breakfast, or in the mid-morning break that punctuates the working day on the estates.
Technique
- CTC processing rolls the leaf through toothed cylinders that rupture the cells, so it oxidises fully and brews strong and fast. Whole-leaf orthodox tea from the same estates exists and is more delicate, but the national habit is CTC.
- Malawi is also the home of the Thyolo tea plant selections, developed locally and now planted widely across Africa.
- Over-steeping is the commonest fault: past six minutes the brew turns harsh and drying no matter how much milk goes in.
- Milk first is not just tradition; with near-boiling tea it keeps the milk proteins from cooking and taking on a stewed flavour.
Substitutions
- No Malawian tea: any strong African or Assam CTC blend, including standard English breakfast bags, behaves the same way.
- Evaporated or powdered milk is very common in Malawian households and gives a richer, sweeter cup than fresh milk.
- For a caffeine-free option, Malawi also produces green tea and, increasingly, its own herbal infusions.
Variations
- Tea with ginger, simmered together, drunk against colds.
- Satemwa estate orthodox whole-leaf and white teas, the speciality end of Malawian production.
- Iced sweet tea with lemon, served at lakeside lodges in the hot season.
History
Commercial tea began at Thyolo in the 1880s, the first successful tea planting in Africa; Malawi remains the continent’s second largest producer.
Frequently asked questions
What is Malawi tea?
Malawi tea is a drink from Malawi: brisk black tea from the Thyolo and Mulanje slopes, drunk sweet with milk. Commercial tea began at Thyolo in the 1880s, the first successful tea planting in Africa; Malawi remains the continent’s second largest producer.
How long does Malawi tea take to make?
Malawi tea takes 5 min of preparation and 10 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 cups. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Malawi tea?
Yes, within limits. No Malawian tea: any strong African or Assam CTC blend, including standard English breakfast bags, behaves the same way. Evaporated or powdered milk is very common in Malawian households and gives a richer, sweeter cup than fresh milk. For a caffeine-free option, Malawi also produces green tea and, increasingly, its own herbal infusions.
