My name is Joyce Muendo and I look after African Tea Buying. That means I get to speak to people in hot , exotic places like Mombasa, Limbe, Kericho, Dar Es Salaam, South Africa among others.

Occasionally I do visit , but most of the time I do my negotiations on phone and email ( from cold, rainy Greenford). I got into Tea Tasting purely by coincidence when I took up what was called a "marketing" job at Unilever straight after university. I didn't find the fast paced world of advertising that I expected, but instead there were green rolling fields of tea, the unforgettable fresh aroma of tea going through the driers at manufacture - and a spittoon!

I have met some amazing people, tasted amazing teas from around the world, learned - and still am learning - a great deal about tea. Suffice to say 16 years on, I'm still tasting - and loving it. I enjoy putting together little blends to drink - white tea , a bit of green tea, some Darjeeling featuring occasionally, but all my blends have East of Rift Kenya PF1 in them (no surprise there then!)