Product Review: Kabaki Purple Tea

White tea, green tea and black tea are among the most popular teas served today, namely for their health benefits, but now purple tea is being marketed as even more healthful.

Kabaki Kenyan Purple Tea is a new bottled brand that is said to contain more antioxidants than green or black teas. Harvested in the Kenyan mountains, the tea claims to be packed with anthocyanin and polyphenol, mirconutrients that may aid in the prevention of cancers and heart disease.

Woman picking tea leaves in Kenya

In general, people drink different types of teas for a number of associated health benefits. White tea is said to prevent tooth decay and lung cancer. Green tea supposedly burns body fat, fights allergies and improves brain function. Black tea may be beneficial in assisting with digestive disorders, decreasing blood pressure and lowering blood sugar.

Could all the health benefits found in these three different teas be packed into one tea? The answer would be yes, according to the makers of Kabaki Kenyan Purple Tea. Purple tea leaf is derived from Camellia Sinensis, which is used to create white, black and green tea.

As a barista and tea enthusiast, I coordinated a product sampling by comparing the purple tea I made with the Kabaki bottled purple tea.  I made green, black and white iced teas in separate containers and then mixed a little bit of all three teas into the same cup, creating my own purple tea.

I was shocked to find out the combination of the teas was truly delicious, refreshing and unique. Then I compared it to the Kabaki bottled tea, which offers five different flavors: unsweetened, lightly sweetened, peach, raspberry, and lemon.

To my surprise, the unsweetened flavor tasted exactly the same as my mix of the white, black and green iced tea. The flavor was rich and pure, and it was literally the same as If I had grabbed a mix of the white, black and green iced tea with no sugar and poured it into a bottle. The four other flavors weren’t as refreshing to me because of the added sugars, but I would definitely drink most any of them if paired with food.

The creator of Kabaki Tea, Martin Kabaki, grew up in Limuru, Kenya.  He truly understands the tea cultivation process, so he used this understanding to benefit both the health and economy of those in his native country.  Through the sales of Kabaki tea, he aims to improve the health of those in farming communities.

Kabaki is brewed and bottled in the United States and can be purchased on Amazon and at the company website, as well as retailers nationwide. The retail price is $19.75/6 pack or $2.99/bottle.