Tea Cultivar · Camellia sinensis var. assamica
TRFK 306/1
- Origin
- Kenya - Kericho
- Registered
- 2011
- Primary use
- purple tea, specialty black tea, anthocyanin extract
Overview
TRFK 306/1 is the famous 'purple tea' clone released to Kenyan farmers in 2011 after more than two decades of selection work at the Tea Research Foundation. It was developed by screening assamica seedlings for anthocyanin expression - the same family of pigments that color blueberries and red cabbage - with the dual goals of providing Kenyan growers a high-value specialty product and offering a domestically produced source of natural anthocyanin for the nutraceutical industry. It is the first commercially significant cultivar in the world bred specifically for purple-pigmented leaf.
Characteristics
Young leaves and shoots emerge a striking deep violet-purple color due to anthocyanin accumulation in the epidermis, gradually turning green as they mature. Anthocyanin content of the spring flush can exceed 1.5 percent of dry weight - vastly higher than the trace amounts in normal tea cultivars. The clone is also notably drought-tolerant, frost-resistant, and pest-resistant, and yields well at elevations between 1,500 and 2,200 meters where it is now widely planted.
Flavor profile
Processed gently as a white-style or lightly oxidized tea, TRFK 306/1 brews a pale plum-pink to lavender liquor (which turns bright pink with lemon juice) with delicate berry, woodsy, and gentle astringent notes. Fully oxidized as a black tea it produces a more conventional copper cup with a distinctive plum-and-cocoa undertone. The anthocyanin content gives all preparations a perceived antioxidant 'cooling' quality that has driven significant export demand to the U.S. and Japan.
Where it grows
Kenya - Nandi · Kenya - Kericho · Kenya - Mt. Kenya