An Assam-made Pu'er tea cake has been sold for Rs 12,000 per kg at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre. Five kg of the speciality tea made by Gauripur Tea Industry in Golaghat was sold at this price during an auction on Friday. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also shared the news on X. "Assam tea is finding new ways to command a premium," he wrote, calling it a significant moment for Assam's evolving tea industry.
The tea was sold through broker J Thomas. Gauripur Tea Industry is owned by Aparaj Saikia and started making Pu'er tea in 2023.
What is Pu'er tea?
Pu'er, also known as Pu-erh, is a type of fermented tea traditionally made in Yunnan province of China. It is usually made from large tea leaves and is often pressed into round cakes or bricks. The Assam version is made using Camellia sinensis var. assamica, a tea variety commonly found in Assam.
Gauripur Tea Industry uses only the tea bud to make this speciality tea instead of the usual one bud and two leaves. The tea is made completely by hand and takes around three to 10 days to prepare.
Aparaj Saikia, the owner of Gauripur Tea Industry, told The Sentinel, "We began producing this tea commercially in carefully crafted and small batches as part of our endeavour to explore and promote speciality tea from Assam, beyond the conventional black and green tea categories."
More speciality teas from Assam
North Eastern Tea Association adviser Bidyananda Barkakoty said Phalap tea could be the next speciality tea to be sold through the Guwahati auction.
Phalap is a traditional tea made by the Singpho community in parts of Tinsukia and Margherita. It is made from large Assamica tea leaves and is traditionally packed in bamboo and aged. "It develops a distinctive earthy, woody and smoky character, somewhere similar to Pu'er tea.
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Assam Government Subsidy
The Assam government has also increased the subsidy for orthodox and other speciality teas from Rs 10 to Rs 15 per kg from the 2026-27 financial year. "This will encourage more production of non-CTC teas and help address the demand-supply imbalance arising from the overproduction of CTC variety," Barkakoty told PTI.