Assam’s Woolah Tea secures patent for India’s first bagless tea  

            Woolah’s patented bagless tea made from whole leaf bundles aims to eliminate microplastics and champion organic farming

                                                        

   Assam’s first bagless tea brand, Woolah Tea, has been granted a 20-year patent (No. 567895) for its innovative ‘compressed true whole leaf tea dips and method thereof’ (patent name). Founded by Upamanyu Borkotoky and Ansuman Bharali from Sibsagar district in Assam, Woolah is a start-up rooted in Assam’s tea heritage.

                                                   

Woolah’s tea is made from a compressed bundle of eti koli duti paat (one bud and two leaves), bound by a natural string —eliminating the need for conventional tea bags. The founders filed for the patent in 2020. “Initially, we experimented with fibres like banana and bamboo to replace typical tea bags,” says Upamanyu. “But the leaves didn’t unfurl properly. Our focus was to eliminate microplastics that leach into tea from standard bags.”

                                                     

Neither Upamanyu nor co-founder Ansuman had prior experience in the tea industry. A chance encounter with a farmer selling hand-rolled organic tea during a visit home sparked their interest. “I used to think green tea couldn’t taste good, but that changed,” says Upamanyu.

They eventually quit their corporate jobs and began working with organic tea farmers in Assam, particularly in Sibsagar, Kaxhopothar and Dibrugarh.