A craft passed down, not sped up.
Assam has been growing and crafting tea for over a century. Here's what that craftsmanship actually looks like, step by step.
Hand-Plucked at Dawn
Every harvest begins with skilled pickers selecting only the tender two leaves and a bud, by hand, in the cool morning hours — the only time that guarantees zero bruising and maximum flavour retention.
The Long, Slow Wither
Freshly picked leaves are spread out and left to lose moisture gradually over 12–18 hours, softening them naturally and concentrating their flavour compounds.
Rolled to Release
The withered leaf is gently rolled — by machine for our CTC teas, by lighter roller for our Black and Green teas — breaking the cell walls just enough to release the natural oils that carry flavour and aroma.
Where Colour and Character Form
Rolled leaves are laid out in a cool, humid room, where oxygen transforms their colour from green to coppery brown and develops the deep, rounded taste our CTC and Black teas are known for. Our Green Tea skips this step entirely, staying close to how the leaf grew.
Locking It All In
Carefully controlled heat halts oxidation at exactly the right moment, drying the leaf to a stable moisture level that preserves its flavour for months without losing character.
Sorted by Hand and Eye
Our tea masters sort the dried leaf by size, grade, and appearance, ensuring every batch that reaches you is consistent, clean, and uniform.
Follow the changing rhythm of the estate through our seasonal harvest notes, with updates from each flush and insights into how every season shapes the character of the leaf.
Read Harvest NotesCraft, carried by hand
Machines help at certain stages, but the decisions that matter most — when to stop withering, how long to let oxidation run, which batch is ready to dry — are still made by tea masters who've spent years learning to read a leaf. That knowledge doesn't come from a manual. It's inherited, practiced, and passed down, one harvest at a time.
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