thé africain

IMARA: a taste trip through unpublished African flavors

The concept of the Imara collection

At the house of IMARA Tea, our desire is to bring out the best of Africa by borrowing in fashion the concept of the collection.
Each will put a country in the spotlight and bring together the best teas and infusions produced locally. With Kasimba, our very first collection, it is Kenya that we have chosen to celebrate.


Discovering gourmet tea

Most of the teas and infusions marketed in France are flavored. In other words, they are flavored with natural or artificial aromas.

However, the more a tea leaf is worked, the more its original taste and its virtues are altered. On the contrary, we think that we must preserve the quality of each sheet, as an invitation to return to nature. So we went in search of gourmet teas rather than gourmet, combining finesse, roundness and lightness.

Kenya: a premium tea culture


Finding high -end teas, rich in flavors and benefits, was not enough. We also wanted them to be original by their origin and their characteristics.

This double objective seemed to us fully achievable in Kenya.

Crossing by the equator, the country benefits from considerable sunshine despite two rainy seasons. The combination of heat and humidity is ideal for cultivating exceptional teas all year round.

Imara tea

The conditions are even more optimal in the center and to the west. In these mountainous and volcanic areas, there are the highest plantations in Africa, beyond 2,000 meters above sea level.

Exceptional thing: teas are produced there organically. It is thanks to the extraordinary fertility of the soils, abundantly provided in minerals, and the freshness of temperatures, which reduces the presence of insects and fungi harmful to the tea.

After visiting several plantations, we made the singular choice not to offer green tea in our collection. Why ? Because it is by far the most consumed variety in France. For the sake of innovation, we prefer to enhance more confidential and typical Kenya teas, such as purple tea or yellow tea.


Violet tea, an Imara discovery


Violet tea, also called purple tea, owes its name to the coloring of its leaves. Fruit of a rare mutation of the tea, it is cultivated in the region of Mount Kenya.

Although it grows under the same conditions as green tea, its resistance to jelly, drought and harmful insects is much superior.

This makes it a rare tea, sought after for its extraordinary aromas and its antioxidant effects. We lend him many health benefits: anti-inflammatory and anti-microbered properties, reduction in the effects of aging and the risk of cancer, weight loss, etc.

purple tea


Yellow tea, a Grand Cru Imara


Yellow tea, or imperial tea, is a green tea that has undergone light post-enzymatic fermentation. Very popular with connoisseurs for their rarity, its leaves, recognizable by their golden shade, are only harvested once a year.

Its manufacture, which requires know-how and patience, gives it a soft, fine and sweet taste. Low in theine, imperial tea has virtues similar to green tea in healing, health maintenance and disease prevention.

Its regular consumption is recommended to lower cholesterol levels.


The creation of the visual identity of the Kasimba collection


We tasted dozens of samples and then selected the best to be tested in France.

At the same time, we thought with a Kenyan graphic designer in the name and visual identity of the collection. They absolutely had to reflect the historical and cultural richness of Kenya.

Instead of being inspired by European vision, we have conducted in -depth research on the country as well as the peoples Maasai and Kikuyu.

We have drawn countless symbols, graphics and patterns. As evidence, we have reproduced the most essential of them on our packaging.

 Imara yellow tea


The choice of colors either is not trivial. For logical reasons, each packaging is in the colors of the variety of tea it contains: purple for purple tea, yellow for yellow tea, etc.

We have retained bright colors because they make an impression, invite travel and are synonymous with our eyes with happiness, sharing and well-being.

As for the name, how can we not pay tribute to Swahili, one of the official languages ​​of Kenya? We set our sights on Kasimba, which means little lion.


A 100% luxury product made in Africa


To bring out the best in Kenya, we had to offer a "bidhaa" designed from A to Z on site.

This of course concerns the culture and harvesting of tea but also the making of packaging.

We have approached several local production factories and one of them offered us the best solution: a box made from recycled boxes to limit our carbon footprint.

Our requirements were high because we wanted the quality of our packaging to be in line with that of our teas. Fortunately the factory team did everything to answer them and, after six months of regular exchanges, we found the right formula.

Imara tea


The boxes were then delivered in the plantation for the packaging stage of bulk tea.

We were thus in possession of a 100% Kenyan article, the result of the work of local populations. It was still necessary to succeed in importing it into France.

For us who launched our first company, it was a new challenge to take up and undoubtedly the most difficult phase of the project.

We have mobilized all the living forces of the team to succeed in this import-export operation in a handful of weeks.

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