Purple Lotus

Purple Lotus is a wild all-bud (單芽, dan ya) purple tea from Dehong. Like Evening Sky, it comes from the Camellia assamica var. Dehongensis. These old trees were harvested in spring and the tea was oxidized for two full days and nights, which is much longer than most red teas, due to the thickness of these wild buds. The longer withering also softens the astringency of this tea, which is important since this varietal has more tannins than most. It is sweet and fruity, with a pungent aftertaste of wood. Purple tea is named thus because the trees have a purplish hue to the buds that recedes to green as the leaves mature. This is due to a natural pigment (anthocyanins) in the leaf that protects it from UV (it can also be passed down genetically). This mutation is common in many varietals of tea. Though we call all such tea “purple,” Purple Lotus is a bit more purple since it is composed exclusively of buds.