Drink of the Week: Kazi Yetu Ginger Mint Fusion Green Tea

In terms of refreshing summer beverages, few options hit the mark for me quite like a glass of iced tea. So I was delighted when samples from Kazi Yetu crossed my desk, courtesy of a referral from our resident tea expert Max Falkowitz. I perused the offerings, including spiced black teas, pure greens, and herbal infusions, and landed on the Ginger Mint Fusion Green Tea. I steeped a pot, set it to cool, and read more about the company’s work.

Launched in 2018 as a social enterprise, Kazi Yetu is based in Tanzania and aims to improve the East African tea market, which is one of the world’s largest but has historically been locked into producing low-cost commodity teas. By working with co-ops of smallholder tea farms and eventually opening their own processing facility in Dar es Salaam (staffed fully by local women), Kazi Yetu (meaning “our work” in Swahili) has been able to increase income for farmers and offer training to continually improve quality.

The line of teas are available loose-leaf in Europe through their distribution warehouse in Germany, but in the U.S. only tea bags are available so far. I used four bags of the Ginger Mint Fusion Green Tea to brew a large pitcher, which I chilled in the fridge. The smooth and earthy green tea is well complemented by the mint leaves for an extra refreshing brew, while the ginger gives it just a little kick on the end that kept me coming back for another sip. $18.99/20 bags, amazon.com