Tea is considered to be an important and revered drink in India, and is secondary only to water. Served on almost every occasion, – arrival of guests, family gathering, high-tea party, and in many households this beverage is consumed at least once every day.
With such a strong tea culture, teas in various forms are being used to either refresh or provide medicinal benefits. And with many startups giving tea an updated look, like that of a connoisseur’s drink, people around the world are accepting its various and exotic blends in their modernized versions.
Here are a few artisanal tea startups and their products, that has been satiating us in recent years!
1. Celes Te
Coming from a family of tea experts, founder Anubha Jhawar launched Celes Te in 2020, the previous year having mostly spent formulating various blends.
The luxury tea blend specializes in elegantly blended artisanal teas that are exclusively handmade to perfection. Right from Green Tea to Kahwa to Choco Spice, products of this brand are available online as well.
2. The Tea Trove
This Kolkata-based tea startup by Rishav Kanoi sources freshly packed teas like Oolong, black, white and green within a week of manufacturing. It then blends them into distinct flavors using dried fruits, dried spices, dried flowers and dried herbs.
A few examples of their crafted teas include orange peel, jasmine, rose, chamomile and lemongrass.
3. Kolkata Chai Company
Now its no surprise that this humble beverage in its Indian form has taken the world by storm. And testament to this is Kolkata Chai Co, a startup in the USA.
The founders from Kolkata missed this beverage from their city on relocating to Massachusetts and their hunt for the perfect tea led them into establishing their startup.
Today with their cafes in Kolkata and NYC, they sell masala chai, premixes and much more.
4. Aromica Tea
Founder duo Ranjit and Dolly Baruah were posted at many tea estates in India, and it is during this course of their stay did they find out that tea growers didn’t have any proper access to selling their high-quality organic tea.
Thus was born Aromica Tea, that sells variants like tulsi green tea, mint green tea, and lemongrass ginger green tea along with unique blends like blue pea tea, the fiery Bhut Jolokia tea- made from one of the world’s hottest chilly and Valentine tea containing strawberry, rose petal, dark chocolate chips, and more.
5. Dorje Teas
Their tea comes from a century-and-a-half-old Selim Hill Tea Garden. Founder Sparsh Agarwal decided to focus on bridging gaps in the tea industry in Darjeeling, a prominent problem being low sales during monsoon and autumn flushes of tea.
During COVID times, Dorje Teas introduced a subscription model that brought an entire year’s worth of seasonal flavored teas from the estate to your doorstep.
