Just when you think you’ve tried every kind of tea you can think of, you stumble across something new. Not black tea or green tea but, Purple Tea? I had to give it a try.
This batch of tea had enormous, voluminous leaves that puffed up the sample bag. The leaves were long and dark, tightly curled, and exceptionally elegant.
Though the leaves were beautiful, they weren’t purple in color, but instead looked like traditional black tea. Would the brewed leaves be any different?
Black teas brew up dark sienna brown, rooibos teas are reddish amber, and green and white teas brew up golden or melon green. Does this Purple Tea actually turn the water purple?
Not exactly, though I will say that the brewed tea is a notable cooler color than most brews. The Purple Tea brews up a muddy, blue-green. It’s far from traditional grape juice purple, as far as the tea color wheel is concerned, brewing up blue-green still pretty unusual.
With all this thought about the beautiful appearance of the leaves and the brew, we finally get to the taste. This Purple Tea tasted surprisingly light and juicy, like green grapes and white wine. There was also a flash of black currant tartness at the back of each sip that reminds you that this has a flavor palette beyond a typical green tea or an oolong. As the tea cooled, I noticed more of a muscatel, earthy, grape flavor that helped flesh out the forward, bright fruit notes.
Purple tea is grown near the equator in a sunny environment with lots of ultraviolet rays. To survive, this tea is high in antioxidants, like blueberries and pomegranates. When you want to expand your palette and get a health-boost, brew up some Purple Tea and feel the purple power!