Purple Tea: What Is It And What Does It Taste Like?
Have you ever heard of purple tea? There has been much discussion in the world about it in recent years. According to some, it is not a new type of tea but cultivars or specific plants that are particularly rich in anthocyanins or anthocyanin, pigments with a red-purple color and antioxidant properties (they belong to the flavonoid family). They are, for example, contained in berries, strawberries, black grapes or eggplant. From the Greek, anthro-kyanos means blue flower.
According to others, however, we are dealing with something new and something that characterizes a specific country. Let us compare the two theories.
Purple tea: tea rich in anthocyanins
Tea plants rich in these pigments can be found in nature. They may belong to particular varieties, cultivars that are wild or created through crosses, or they may be plants that have undergone mutation. Initially the leaves of these trees are green, then they turn purple. An interesting video by Mei Leaf says that this reaction can happen particularly if the plant is stressed by UV light. Anthocyanins are defined as a “sunscreen” for the plant world. A 2008 study on these components (you can find it here) points out that the concentration of flavonoids depends on sun exposure.
It seems that the first purple-leaf tea plants were found in Yunnan Province (China) by Chinese researchers in the mid-1980s. Even today we find purple tea from Yunnan in the market, from China’s Zhejiang province, but also from India, Taiwan, and I happened to taste even a Japanese Sencha made from an anthocyanin-rich cultivar (Sunrougue). The purple shoots and leaves of this plant are then harvested and then processed in different ways to produce white tea, green tea but even fermented teas.
In my experience, this purple Sencha had the darkest leaves with hues, indeed, tending toward blue. In the cup, the liquor was dark and the flavor was less smooth and sweet than a Sencha. Vegetal, less saline than other Japanese green teas, and with a tendency toward bitterness.
Purple tea: new tea from Kenya?
Then there are those who say purple tea is a new type of tea.
The Tea Research Foundation of Kenya (Trfk) spent 25 years obtaining the antiocyanin-rich cultivar TRFK 306/1. The studies started with a variety of Camellia Sinensis Assamica that naturally had purple leaves. This cultivar was crossed with hundreds of varieties before finding the perfect combination with Camellia Irrawadiensis, which is also rich in purple pigments. This resulted in the TRFK 306/1 clone, which was given to some small farmers in 2011 to start cultivation.
At this point you will say: but why should Kenyan tea be a new type? Two private companies process the leaves of this purple tea: Njeru Industries and Tumoi Tea. At the World Tea Expo, Boaz Katah, factory manager of the latter, explained that their tea undergoes a different processing than other categories, created specifically to enhance the benefits of antiocyanins. How.
The leaves are hand-picked (two leaves and a bud), selected to have those richest in pigments. These undergo a light withering process that, they say, helps keep the pigmentation alive. Like a green tea, the leaves are then cooked to stop oxidation. At this point they are rolled and dried at two different temperatures.
They care so much about this product. There is a strong connection to the land. It’s almost like hearing a Parma ham talk. Plus it is a long-leaf tea in a country that is a leader in the production of black tea destined for sachets and large-scale marketing, often linked to multinational corporations and not small growers as in this case.
The TRFK 306/1 cultivar was planted in different areas of Kenya. Depending on the soil, exposure, etc., the tea has different characteristics both in production capacity and in the color and flavor of the liquor. I have tasted Tumoi Tea’s and the color is pinkish. For more bluish highlights they recommend adding lemon juice. The flavor is quite mild, slightly astringent, like a green tea, but less vegetal on the palate.
How to prepare purple tea
In case we are talking about purple tea understood as a variety and then processed as a white tea, a green tea or a fermented tea, it is necessary to follow the directions of these families. For example, if we are talking about Sencha from cultivar Sunrougue the recommended infusion is that of a classic Sencha.
On the other hand, if we are talking about purple tea from Kenya Boaz Katah recommends brewing the tea at a temperature of 80° C for 3 minutes.
Purple tea: properties
We may not be looking at a new family of teas, but my guess is that we will hear more and more about teas rich in anthocyanins. In fact, the presence of these pigments would make these teas particularly interesting from the point of view of antioxidants, benefits on cholesterol and as anti-inflammatories. After all, how long have they been saying that eating blueberries is good for your health?
A 2015 study tells us something about the benefits of Kenyan purple tea and its extract.
It generally points out that like green tea it contains polyphenols such as Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and epicatechin gallate (ECG). Unlike other teas it has a reduced theine content, an element also mentioned by Boaz Katah at the World Tea Expo.