TRFK 306 vs Zi Juan
The two purple tea cultivars, one Kenyan and one from Yunnan, sold under the same marketing category and unrelated as plants. Both have anthocyanin-rich leaf; beyond the colour they share very little, and neither constitutes a category of tea.
What is being compared
Why these get confused
‘Purple tea’ is presented as a type alongside green, black and oolong. It is a cultivar trait that survives any processing route, so a purple green tea and a purple black tea are as different from each other as any other green and black tea.
Point by point
| Aspect | TRFK 306/1 | Zi Juan |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Kenya, from the national research foundation’s breeding programme. | Yunnan, selected from local large-leaf stock. |
| Botanical group | Assamica. | Assamica. |
| Where the colour sits | In the leaf, and it is strongest in cool high-altitude conditions. | Uniformly through leaf and stem, which is unusual and diagnostic. |
| Cup | Depends entirely on processing; made as green or black like any other leaf. | Markedly astringent and drying, with a distinctive liquor colour. |
| How it is made | Green and black manufacture both. | Green, black and sheng-style, and it is compressed as well as sold loose. |
| What is claimed for it | A great deal in marketing. This record makes no claim about the pigment. | The same, and the same silence applies here. |
The short answer
Purple tea is a leaf colour, not a sixth category, and the two plants behind it have different homes, different processing traditions and different cups. A drinker who disliked one has not met the other, and the astringency of Zi Juan in particular is a property of that plant rather than of purple leaf in general.
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