Kenyan Tea Recipe & Gift Idea

When we were in Kenya, we had tea every day.  At VBS with the children, the milk and sugar was already added.  Everywhere else, we had to add it.  There are many different ways to make tea in Kenya.  We asked some locals to teach us how to make tea their way.  Here’s what they taught us:

Ingredients (per serving):
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of milk
1 tea bag (use Kenyan black tea – I’ve found that English Breakfast tea works well)
sugar to taste (I suggest sugar in the raw for a more authentic Kenyan tea.)

Directions:

1.  Boil water.  Use a tea kettle if possible.  If not, be sure to remove water from heat as soon as it barely boils.
2. While water is heating, heat the milk.  You can microwave it for 30 seconds to 1 minute or you can gently heat it on the stove.  You want the milk to be hot enough to steep the tea, but do not let it boil.  Try for around 200°F.
3. Add a tea bag to your cup.
4. Pour the warmed milk over the tea bag and allow it to steep for 3-5 minutes.
5. Add the water.  Remove tea bag.
6. Add sugar to taste.  Try 2 teaspoons of sugar and go from there.

Tea Sampler Gift Idea

Choose a jar. {I used a jelly jar.} Remove the label.  Soak in hot water to loosen the glue.  Scrub with hot water and soap.  Use nail polish remover (acetone or non-acetone varieties work) to remove the rest of the glue.  You could also use Goo Gone or something similar.

Choose a pretty piece of paper for the top.  You can use scraps of wrapping paper or scrapbook paper – whatever you like.  Mod podge the paper to the lid.  There’s a lot of tutorials on the web for this.  Here’s the one I used.

 

 

Fill the jar with a variety of tea bags.

Tie a ribbon or piece of twine around the jar.

Write the recipe for Kenyan tea on a tag and tie it to the jar.

You now have a lovely little gift to give!

Thanks for reading!