Tasting Notes
Koseret has complex and exciting flavours that are utterly unique. Described by a Noma chef as like a hit of slapped basil over fresh tomato. The taste is sweet and herbaceous, with bright lemon.
In cold infusion the flavour is remarkably clean and pure. Both hot and cold, it makes an extremely refreshing drink.
Quantity
For a hot infusion use 0.1 oz of leaf per 5.5 fl oz of water (1g per 150ml).
For a cold infusion use 0.1 oz of leaf per 33.81fl oz of water (1g per litre).
Temperature
For the optimum infusion use 212°F (100°C) water.
For a cold infusion, fill at room temperature and place in the fridge to infuse.
Time
Infuse for 1 - 3 minutes, tasting regularly.
(This is one of the rare herbal leafs that will become bitter with longer infusion, so make sure you try little and often.)
For a cold infusion, infuse for 8 hours or overnight.
Infusions
You can infuse these herbs at least three times. With each careful infusion, different subtleties of flavour are revealed.
Cost Per Cup
23¢ per cup based on 0.1 oz of leaf per 5.5 fl oz of water and 3 infusions.
Lippia adoensis
Verveine d’Afrique
Koseret is a unique herbal tea of the lemon verbena family. In Ethiopian culture it is traditionally taken as tea to fight off flu and is used as a herb to flavour celebratory meals.
Lippia adoensis, its botanical name, honours Augustin Lippi, a French-Italian botanist who died on a journey to visit the Ethiopian emperor in 1703. In French it's called Verveine d'Afrique.
UNITY
Andinet Spice Cooperative
Our Koseret is grown by the women of the Andinet Spice Cooperative. Andinet means "unity" in Amharic and together these women have built a cooperative. They tend small plots of land near their homes in the Kaffa Biosphere Reserve.
There are 80 women, across three cooperative groups. Most have less than a hectare of land. It is loaned to them by their husbands or fathers - mostly because the land is not in use or is unproductive. The herbs grown by the cooperatives not only create essential income for their families but also vital biodiversity.
Rare Tea donated 4000 seedlings to the cooperative in 2022.
The ladies don't have space or capacity to set up nurseries of their own right now. However, as the women generate more revenue, it encourages the men to give up more land for future nurseries and our women's plants.
Ultimately they will become entirely self-sufficient.
Kafa Biosphere
Afromontane Cloud Forests
Our loose leaf Koseret is grown in the Kafa Biosphere Reserve, located in the stunning Afromontane cloud forests in southwest Ethiopia. Historically, this region was home to the Kingdom of Kaffa and is renowned as the birthplace of coffee.
The Biosphere Reserve was created to protect the biological diversity and cultural heritage of the people.
