Guwahati: 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 Tea”, operated by TTLT India Pvt Ltd, has received a 20-year patent for its revolutionary Bagless Tea Technology.
Unlike conventional tea bags, Woolah’s contain nothing but pure whole tea leaves. There’s no dust, no fannings, and no synthetic fibres. Each portion can be steeped two to three times without losing its flavour.
Since traditional polymer-based tea bags are known to release billions of microplastics and nanoplastics into hot water, Woolah’s bagless design offers a cleaner and safer way to enjoy the brew.
Woolah’s tea is made from a compressed bundle of eti koli duti paat (one bud and two leaves), bound by a natural string.
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,” he added.
According to the Patent Certificate, the invention is known as “Compressed True Whole Leaf Tea Dips”.
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Woolah Tea also made an appearance on Shark Tank India Season 4, and received offers from all four 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 in New York.
