From the first sip, the sweet floral character of this tea is engaging and inviting. The initial overall impression is reminiscent of a fresh bouquet of orchard trees and sweet berries. When brewed, the loose-leaf bamboo tea yields a light-medium amber cup with a medium body.
Purple Bamboo is a relatively new tea on the market. These naturally occurring variations of purple leaves and buds were typically thrown into the piles to make Pu-erh. More recently, the farmers have started keeping these leaves separate to make them into their own category of "bamboo" tea. The high levels of anthocyanin (a blue, violet, or red flavonoid pigment found in plants) in the leaf give it its purple color. Since the late 1980’s the Purple Beauty cultivar has been propagated by the Menghai Research Center and through further cultivation is now being more widely planted, but the tea is still scarcely available in the US.
