Three Kenyan purple teas in one gift tin, with a hand-carved olive wood spoon — roughly fifteen cups of each.
Purple tea, briefly
It is not a herbal infusion and it is not dyed. Purple tea is Camellia sinensis, the same species as green and black tea, but a distinct cultivar bred in Kenya over roughly twenty-five years and released commercially only in the last decade — one of the very few genuinely new things to happen in tea in a long time.
The colour comes from anthocyanins, the pigments that make blueberries blue. It is low in caffeine — around half that of Kenyan green tea — and light, clean and faintly plum-like to drink, without the astringency of a strong black tea.
Why a trio is the right way to buy it
Because purple tea is unfamiliar, and unfamiliar things are worth meeting in small quantities. Three flavours in one tin let you find out which direction you like before committing to a full packet — and they make a considerably more interesting gift than a single tea, since almost nobody receiving one will have tried purple tea before.
The lemon trick
Worth doing once with each of the three. Brew a cup, look at the colour, then add lemon juice: the liquor turns from purple-brown to clear pink within seconds. It is the anthocyanins responding to acidity, the same chemistry that turns red cabbage pink in vinegar. It works with all purple tea, and it is the best possible way to introduce somebody to it.
JusTea
The Bain family from Canada partnered with the Katah family and the Nandi Hills community to build Kenya's first small-scale farmer-owned artisanal tea factory. The company is verified by the Fair Trade Federation, and works with a women's tea co-operative in Meru as well as the Nandi growers. The olive wood spoon is carved by artisan families from off-cuts left over from larger items — turning waste into income.
Brewing
Water at about 85 °C — not boiling — for three to four minutes, a teaspoon per cup. All three re-infuse well.
Criatura
Biohême
Criatura
Biohême
