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Purple Reigns
Move over, black and green. Move along, oolong. It’s time to try purple tea.
There’s no cooler color than the hue of royalty, celebrated in music (Deep Purple, “Purple Haze”) and literature (The Color Purple, Harold and the Purple Crayon). But who knew purple was a tea? The answer, surprisingly, is Kenya. That tea-exporting East African nation’s Tea Research Institute spent 25 years developing a purple-leafed variety. Today that type is growing in popularity as a tasty, nutritious teatime alternative. All varieties of real tea—black, green, oolong, white, etc.—are turned into the familiar hot liquid when just-shy-of-boiling water is poured over the leaves of an evergreen shrub known to scientists as Camellia sinensis and allowed to steep. (What we call herbal teas are steeps or infusions of other plants’ leaves or parts.) Tea is the planet’s second most-sipped beverage, after water. And while the purple variety so far accounts for only a dribble of this ocean of consumption (the Kenyans just started releasing it commercially in 2011 to combat a dip in tea prices), it’s reportedly a hardy, high-yielding, easy-to-harvest plant, with properties that guard against drought, frost and natural pests. How fortunate, then, that purple tea has a taste that’s been called “sweet and woodsy” and “robust but not bitter.”
POWER UP Grown pesticide-free in the hills at elevations of 4,500 to 7,500 feet, purple tea leaves get high levels of ultraviolet exposure, causing the plants to defend themselves by producing anthocyanins. These are the antioxidants that create its deep hue (they’re also found in blueberries, eggplant and purple grapes), and they’re said to help combat cancer, guard against cardiovascular disease and aid in cognition. Like its green and black brethren, purple tea contains an amino acid known as l-theanine, which is believed to help relieve anxiety and promote relaxation. But purple wallops the other teas when it comes to polyphenols— micronutrients that can aid digestion, fight infection and prevent or reverse aging-related damage to cells. One tea company reports purple’s polyphenols content at 16.5 percent versus 10.1 percent for black and 9.1 percent for green. A 2015 study in the International Journal of Biomedical Science found that “purple tea leaves and its extract provide anti-obesity effects in mouse and humans,” and suggested that the mechanisms of action involve three compounds: caffeine, catechins (flavonoids) and a polyphenol
called GHG, which appears to affect lipases, enzymes that break down fats. Speaking of caffeine, are you worried about getting too much? That could be another reason to go purple. It has a bit more caffeine than white tea, but significantly less than green or black. BUY/STORE/SERVE Your grocery store may not yet stock purple tea, but it’s available from online retailers (try artfultea.com, justea.com or thewhistlingkettle.com) and certain tea shops. Experts recommend purchasing loose tea rather than tea bags to be sure of getting the best quality, and don’t be disheartened if purple demands a slightly higher price, as befits a royal hue. When it comes to storage, however, the king of your tea cabinet requires no more deference than a commoner quaff. Keep it in a tightly sealed container, preferably made of opaque material, and not in a humid area or near anything with a strong odor. Buy your tea in small quantities you’ll use up soon rather than letting it sit for a long time. When preparing a cup, let it simmer for three to four minutes—or a bit longer if you’d like it strong. Sip some of this new brew and you’ll agree: Tea’s healthy new hue has a promising destiny. —Timothy Kelley
DID YOU KNOW? Kenya ranks third as an exporter of all teas, behind much larger China and India, but it’s the world’s purple-tea champ.
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APRIL 2021
3/17/21 2:31 PM
