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.”

“The bagless concept was entirely new — it took us over a year and 167 trials to get it right,” says Upamanyu. “Initially, we compressed the tea by hand and dried it over a tea dryer. We filed for the patent even before launching the product.”

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.

Woolah was featured on Shark Tank India Season 4 and was the only tea brand to receive offers from all the sharks. The brand is now preparing to export to the US, UK, UAE, Australia, and New Zealand.

Woolah is also representing Assam in celebration of 200 years of Assam Tea at The Summer Fancy Food show at New York.