Puerh (Raw)
Purple varieties
Zi Ya (Purple Bud) and Zi Juan (Purple Beauty) are Yunnan cultivars with elevated anthocyanin content that turns the fresh leaf purple, particularly in cold temperatures, and produces a visually striking dry and wet leaf. The extra anthocyanins add a distinct astringency layer and a slightly different flavor register from standard Yunnan assamica, making these small-volume, harder-to-source teas of genuine interest to collectors tracking cultivar character within the puerh type rather than just mountain origin.
These purple-leafed Yunnan cultivars are the eye-catchers, tinted by extra anthocyanins that bring a distinct astringent twist to the usual sheng story. They're small-batch and a bit hard to find, so they're really one for the collector chasing cultivar character rather than just mountain names.