Assam-made Chinese pu’er tea cakes fetch ₹12,000 per kg

ByTech Word News

Pu’er tea cakes made from Assam. File photo: Special edit.

GUWAHATI

Assam-made pu’er tea cakes, traditionally produced in China’s Yunnan province, fetched ₹12,000 per kg at the Guwahati Tea Auction Center (GTAC), paving the way for varieties such as ‘phalap’ prepared by the Singpho community to be auctioned.

A 5kg batch of pu’er tea from Gauripur Tea Industry in East Assam’s Golaghat was sold at GTAC on Friday (September 25, 2026). Assam Tea Traders bought the land through J. Thomas & Co. brokers. Pvt Ltd

GTAC was the second auction center to sell pu’er tea after the same producer sold a lot at Jorhat Tea Auction Center in 2023 for ₹9,000 per kilogram.

Aparaj Saikia of Gauripur Tea Industry said his firm has started producing Sheng-style pu’er tea, which takes a week from plucking the leaves to processing and pressing into round cakes.

“The Sheng style is faster than the Shou style, which requires maturation for three to four years and controlled post-fermentation techniques. We adapted the Chinese style to the variety of assamica tea leaves naturally found in Assam,” he told The Hindu.

“Our process is entirely manual and started with small batches for personal consumption before the commercial launch three years ago,” said Mr Saikia, a member of the North East Tea Association (NETA).

Traditionally pressed into cakes or bricks, Pu’er develops its distinctive character through fermentation and aging. It has a deep, rich and smooth flavor with an earthy and woody taste, sometimes accompanied by subtle leathery or sweet notes.

“The Pu’er auction is a milestone for Assamese tea, which is experimenting beyond conventional black and green teas. It points to the huge possibilities of creating higher value products from tea resources in the state,” said NETA Advisor Bidyananda Barkakoty.

“This opens the auction door for phalap tea, a traditional tea of ​​the Singpho community, especially in the Margherita area of ​​Tinsukia district. Phalap is traditionally wrapped in bamboo and aged to develop a distinctive earthy, woody and smoky character, somewhat similar to pu’er or pu-erh,” he said.

A few days ago, the Assam government increased the subsidy on production of orthodox and other specialty teas from ₹10 to ₹15 per kg with effect from the financial year 2026-27.

Published – 26 Sep 2026 16:26 IST