Tribal, wild, smoky… yet surprisingly balanced. The Singpho people stuff green tea leaves in green bamboo and smoke them on a bonfire.
These bamboo chunks were farmed and processed in winter of 2020. We broke a few to be packed in convenient 40g and 80g aluminum foil bags. We also have a few sold as big chunks of bamboo, stuffed with tea leaves and smoked.
Please know: these bamboo chunks are gloriously unique or annoyingly inconsistent (depending on your point of view). The size and diameter of each is so different, and the local folks process them 'by feel' instead of using a hard recipe; each piece is a 'once in a lifetime' experience.
Origin: Guwahati, Assam, India
GPS: 26.1ºN | 91.7ºE.
Long before Europeans introduced a Chinese inspired tea industry in South Asia, native communities (like the Singpho) made tea in their own, unique fashion. This is tea is pan fired, withered and then smoked in bamboo.