Discovered only recently, the unique purple tea plants were taken to the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya, where they worked to create a cultivar of this wild plant that would allow for commercial tea production. This unique tea thrives when grown at high elevations along the equator, where it receives twelve hours of sunlight a day year-round. Purple tea is extremely high in antioxidants. In particular, purple tea is rich in beneficial antioxidants called anthocyanins. Anthocyanins give certain fruits and vegetables, such as blueberries, blackberries, purple grapes, and eggplants, their rich blue, purple or dark red color. Studies of purple foods indicate that they may support cardiovascular health, fight inflammation, improve cognition, and help to reverse the effects of UV damage.