In a move that eliminates the need for microplastics to bind together tea leaves, Woolah Tea has become the country’s first bagless tea brand. It has also been awarded a patent for its innovation.
The 20-year-patent, titled ‘compressed true whole leaf dips and method thereof’, took many trials and errors for the brand’s owners before they struck the perfect eco-friendly design.
Also Read: Assam Tea's 200-year legacy celebrated at New York food fair
The bundle, say founders Upamanyu Borkotoky and Ansuman Bharali from Sibsagar district in Assam, is in a compressed form and made from one bud and two leaves (called eti koli duti paat in local parlance). It is bound by a natural string, unlike most tea bags.
“Initially, we experimented with fibres like banana and bamboo to replace typical tea bags. But the leaves didn’t unfurl properly. Our focus was to eliminate microplastics that leach into tea from standard bags.” said Upmanyu.
Both Upmanyu and Ansuman were new to the tea industry before they quit their corporate jobs and began working with organic tea farmers in Assam, particularly, Sibsagar, Kaxhopothar, and Dibrugarh. A chance encounter with a farmer selling hand-rolled organic tea during a visit home had sparked their interest and curiosity, they say.
“I used to think green tea couldn’t taste good, but that changed,” says Upamanyu.
The bagless concept took almost 167 trails, he informs.
“It took us over a year and 167 trials to get it right. Initially, we compressed the tea by hand and dried it over a tea dryer. We filed for the patent in 2020, even before launching the product,” they inform.
Their brand, Woolah, was the only tea brand to receive offers from all the sharks on Shark Tank India Season 4.
The brand is now preparing to export to the US, UK, UAE, Australia, and New Zealand, while also representing Assam in celebration of 200 years of Assam Tea at The Summer Fancy Food show at New York.
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