I like this one, it gives me nice spacey feels: http://yunnansourcing.com/en/yi-shan-tea-factory-of-jinggu/2958-2007-yi-shan-purple-bud-raw-pu-erh-tea-cake-of-jinggu.html. My understanding is that ‘purple tea’ is kind of a vague term, as it can refer to different things. Was there a particular purple tea that inspired your post?
This one: http://steepster.com/teas/williamson-tea/75546-purple-blush
Its ok but not massively enjoyable.
While I have not had too many purple teas the ones that I have had have been shengs. I have not noticed a big difference between purple tea sheng and regular tea sheng. This is not to say there is no difference but that I didn’t notice a big difference.
I love purple tea, ive had a sheng I really liked but couldnt buy a cake as out of stock (cant remember which) Also ive had some in a more Oolong style, & I liked the slightly sour note with those teas. Zi Hong Pao is especially nice.
This is a good one in my opinion.
http://steepster.com/teas/yunnan-sourcing/44469-2013-yunnan-sourcing-wu-liang-ye-sheng-raw
The purple tea from JusTea is more like a green, IMO. The reason it is “purple” according to them is that the leaves flush purple for awhile and that is when they are plucked.
Yes! I did some research on a particular strand of “purple” tea from Kenya, pretty fascinating
The important thing to keep in mind is that purple tea is not actually a tea type. Purple leaves can be made into any of the categories of tea. There’s a lot of undeserved hype but I do find that puerh made from purple leaves is slightly sweeter.
Good point! I actually did a post about it on my blog! The Williamson purple tea was process as black I think, but this thread seems to be highlighting that Puerh is the way to go!
I love purple tea in general, and hence carry several types and regularly drink even more. As stated above by Nicole, “purple” tea comes from some specific cultivars of the tea plant, some as natural mutations to handle their growing conditions, and some due to development by the tea growers.
I’ve had it processed into oolong, black, and green. An interesting and aesthetically cool characteristic of some purple tea is that the brewed tea liquor reacts to acidic foods (like a squeeze of lemon) and turn bright pink. Check out the pictures of the Kenyan Uchawi Zambarau (Swahili for Magic Purple) on my website for reference. I recently had someone purchase it for a wedding because it did this.
But one definitely one of my daily morning teas is a roasted Yunnan black tea made from a wild purple tea tree cultivar.
Heres my post on Kenyas latest purple tea if your interested :) https://www.tastethetea.co.uk/2016/10/02/purple-tea/
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