What’s ‘Manohari’ tea? Just sold at Rs.1.15 lakh per kg in auction

A special tea named ‘Manohari tea’ in Assam’s Dibrugarh district has been sold for Rs 1.15 lakh per kg at a private auction, compared to Rs.99,999 last year.

The proprietor of the tea estate, Rajan Lohia said that ‘Manohari Gold Tea’ fetched the price at an auction on the private portal ‘Tea Intech’ on Friday.

Due to a cap on the maximum selling price of tea being fixed at Rs one lakh per kg by the Tea Board India at Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC), he said they had to sell this year’s batch of tea at a private auction.

“It is the highest price fetched for tea at such auctions anywhere,” he said. Lohia informed that RK tea sales bought this one kg of special tea at this price.

Manohari Gold tea involves the cutting and rolling being done manually without any machines. The tea is made from a special clone, by plucking just the bud early morning – between 5 and 7.30 a.m. Monsoon time during June and July, according to Lohia.

Grown at the Manohari Tea Estate in the district of Dibrugarh, Assam, a unit of Suntok Tea Co. LLP, the tea variety is among the premium Assam teas and its taste is also different.

The Manohari tea, particularly its gold variety, had been fetching high prices at the GTAC over the years. It has set many records for the highest selling prices. In December 2021, Manohari Gold was sold for Rs 99,999 per kg through GTAC.