Discover Kenyan Tea

What Is Purple Tea?

Purple leaf tea is a new tea leaf varietal grown in Kenya. It is the result of 25 years of research at the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya (TRFK) to develop a new tea cultivar species from the camellia sinensis tea family. The purple pigmentation on the tea leaves is due to anthocyanins – a type of antioxidant found in superfoods like beets and berries. Purple tea has higher antioxidant levels and lower caffeine than green or black teas.

Our purple tea leaves are sourced from local small scale tea farms and processed in tea factories which are certified with the following internationally acclaimed standards: ISO 22000 – quality management, ISO 9000 – food safety.

Discover Kenyan Tea

Kenya is the world’s biggest exporter of black tea and ranks third in world tea production. Kenyan tea is widely considered some of the best tea in the world because of its distinctive taste, quality and characteristics created by the climate. Kenyan tea is naturally grown in the rich volcanic soils of the central highlands and rift valley region of Kenya with no pesticides and chemicals sprayed on the leaves.

The rich volcanic soils has a high mineral content and creates fertile land for the tea bushes to thrive. The high altitude where the tea is farmed also contributes to Kenyan tea having a higher antioxidant content than others.

Tea is the central pillar of Kenya’s economy and has remained the country‘s leading foreign exchange earner, ahead of tourism, coffee and horticulture for years. Production is shared between large-scale tea estates and smallholdings, with the latter producing more than 60% of the total tea production. The tea is picked exclusively by hand and mostly by women who account for about 75% of the tea workforce.