Where it comes from
It is no longer farmed. What is left grows wild.
Bulukutu is the Kikongo name for Lippia multiflora, an aromatic shrub of the verbena family. The Slow Food Foundation traces the tea to the people of Mount Bangu in Kongo Central, where the leaves are dried in the sun and steeped in hot water.
The plant is no longer cultivated. It survives in the wild, and Slow Food lists Bulukutu in its Ark of Taste, the register it keeps of foods at risk of disappearing.
It is gathered in the Congo as leaf and stem and dried the traditional way. We grind the two together, fill pyramid bags and seal every tin by hand in Johannesburg, which is why you will find a little twig in each bag: we keep it in on purpose.
In the cup
Closer to rooibos than to black tea.
Aroma
Gentle
Herbal and green rather than floral; you notice it when the water goes in.
Body
Smooth
There is no tannin grip, so it does not dry the mouth.
Finish
Clean
It does not turn bitter if you leave the bag in too long.
