Having tasted various JusTea blends in the past, I was happy to try more when the company reached out and offered to send me some!
Description: “Enjoy this bright tropical infusion of juicy passion fruit, sweet lemongrass, crisp apple, and a hint of hibiscus.”
Instructions: 1 Teaspoon | 1 cup \ Boil 190°F | Steep 4 mins (for a second cup, re-steep 8 mins)
Review: One of the teas I was sent was a full tin of Purple Rain which came with a hand-carved Kenya olive-wood spoon. The tin was sturdy and had information regarding the farmer and = mentioned that the tea directly employs Kenya purple tea farmers in Nandi Hills [community].
Purple Tea is described as “a [tea] cultivar that naturally grows purple tea leaves, similar to other [] purple superfoods like blueberries and acai.” The tea is hand-picked and organically grown, with no pesticides or chemicals sprayed on the tea leaves.
The dry blend was comprised of a fair amount of lemongrass intermixed with the dark purple tea leaves, rosehip, and apple pieces. It had a refreshing smell of fruit, lemongrass, and floral/hibiscus. After infusing for 4 minutes, the wet leaves had a fruity and lemon smell.
The liquor was a ruby wine colour from the hibiscus and tea and had a fruity, lemony, and hibiscus smell. The tart hibiscus was dominant in flavour, followed by lemongrass, and apple and the sip ended off tart. Overall, the liquor was rather tart when it was hot but the tartness was cut down after the liquor had some time to cool. The blend left a pleasant floral taste lingering in the mouth.
The website also mentioned that the blend could be re-steeped, which wasn’t on the tin, so I tried that as well! After 8 minutes, the liquor was a pale lavender colour and the dominant flavour was the lemongrass, which was surprising. There was a hint of tartness, but the hibiscus flavour was much more muted.
I enjoyed that the two infusions had different dominant flavours. Having tried this with food as well, I feel that helped with cutting down the tartness from the hibiscus as well. This would also be a nice blend iced which would be refreshing (3.5/5 rating)!
- Type: Purple tea
- Origin: Unknown
- Caffeine: Very low caffeine
- Ingredients: Organic lemongrass, Kenyan purple tea, hibiscus, apple pieces, rosehips, natural passion fruit flavour
- Other: Organic, Fair Trade
- Company: JusTea
The question of the post: Have you ever had purple tea before?
2 comments
Ooooh sounds very interesting. I’ve had purple tea. Such an interesting taste 🙌
How did you find purple tea?