Whole leaf · orthodox · African
Africa grows much of the world's tea. Almost none of it leaves as itself — it's crushed into dust, sold by the kilo at auction, and buried in nameless teabags. The farms were never the problem. The chain was.
The chain, not the farm
Picked fast, machine-crushed into dust, blended anonymous, and priced by the kilo. The whole leaf — withered slowly and rolled the orthodox way — could be world-class. It rarely gets the chance, because the auction only pays for volume.
We changed who we buy from, and how much of it comes back.
Not a donation. Their share.
Twenty percent of revenue — not profit — computed on every pack, paid on a real schedule, and reconciled in public once a year. If we can't trace a euro, we don't claim it. Drag to see how a single pack splits.
vs the ~6.6% the industry sends farmers. 20% is our floor, not our ceiling — we pay at least a living-income price, even when that's more.
The range
A tight, honest range — enough to learn the leaf, not enough to lose you.
Orthodox black · SFTGFOP1
The “wait — this is African tea?” cup.
Purple-leaf orthodox
Grown commercially almost nowhere else on earth.
Orthodox white
Proof that orthodox isn’t only black.
Rooibos · caffeine-free
The gateway cup — and the one that earns the name.
4 × 15g · guided
The whole story in four small pours.
Your choice · cancel anytime
Steady orders mean steady income.
Two farms, by name
Thyolo, Malawi · est. 1923
A third-generation family estate and the only orthodox producer in Malawi — white, green, oolong, dark and black. They've run a direct-trade office in Europe for years, which is part of why we can do this honestly from day one.
Read their story →
Nandi Hills, Kenya · ~2,000m
A high-altitude single estate handcrafting orthodox black, green, white, oolong — and the purple tea grown almost nowhere else. One relationship gives us both our hero and our surprise.
Read their story →Sorwathe (Rwanda) and Emrok (Kenya) join as new-origin drops once the model is proven. We grow by deepening relationships, not by adding logos.
Why highveld
Africa grows much of the world's tea. Almost none of it leaves as itself.
highveld buys the whole leaf — picked, withered and rolled the slow, orthodox way — straight from the people who grow it. We pay a price they can live on, and we send 20% of every pack back to their farm.
Not a donation. Their share. And we'll show you the receipt.
— highveld · high ground, honest trade
Leave an address and you'll be first to the launch — and first to read the opening Fair Report.