Assam-Made Pu'er-Style Raw Tea Fetches Rs 12,000 a Kilo at Guwahati Auction

On Friday, September 26, 2026, a small lot of pu'er-style raw tea made in Assam, India, sold for Rs 12,000 (Indian rupees) per kilogram at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre. The five-kilogram lot was made by Gauripur Tea Industry in Golaghat district, owned by Aparaj Saikia. It is an unusual price for Assam, a region best known for strong black tea, and it puts a spotlight on a question pu'er drinkers care about: what can be called pu'er?

The sale

• Where and when: Sale 39 at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC), September 26, 2026.
• Who made it: Gauripur Tea Industry, Tetelital, Golaghat district, Assam.
• The lot: 5 kg, sold at Rs 12,000 per kg through the broker J. Thomas & Co. The buyer was Assam Tea Traders.
• The tea: a sheng-style (raw, 生) tea pressed into cakes, made from Assam's own large-leaf tea, Camellia sinensis var. assamica, using processing adapted from Yunnan (云南).
• Earlier price: the same producer's tea sold for Rs 9,000 per kg at the Jorhat Tea Auction Centre in 2023.

Assam's Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, wrote on social media that "Assam tea is finding new ways to command a premium." Bidyananda Barkakoty, adviser to the North Eastern Tea Association, said: "The sale of the tea at this price marks a proud moment for Assam's tea industry." He described the tea as having a "rich, smooth taste and earthy, woody notes," and said the result may help Phalap, a traditional tea made by the Singpho community in Tinsukia and Margherita, reach public auctions too.

The sale also comes as Assam raises its subsidy for specialty (non-CTC) teas from Rs 10 to Rs 15 per kg from 2026–27, which encourages growers to try styles other than standard black tea.

Why Assam can make a pu'er-style tea

Pu'er is made from large-leaf tea. As the PTI news agency's report notes, that means large-leaf Camellia sinensis, particularly the assamica type, the same broad variety grown across Assam. So the raw material is related, and Gauripur has shown that the processing can be adapted. Commercial production there began in 2023, after early small batches made for personal use.

What China's standard says pu'er is

In China, the name is defined by the national standard GB/T 22111-2008, Product of Geographical Indication: Pu'er Tea (《地理标志产品 普洱茶》). It defines pu'er as tea made from Yunnan large-leaf sun-dried green tea (晒青茶) grown inside the protected geographical area, and processed inside that same area with specific methods, giving it distinctive quality. It comes in two types: raw (生茶) and ripe (熟茶).

That is why careful reports call the Assam tea "pu'er-style." Under China's standard, pu'er is a tea of place as well as a method, in the same way that origin is part of the name for many protected foods.

What this means for pu'er drinkers

• More "pu'er-style" teas are coming. Producers outside Yunnan are experimenting with pressed, aged-style teas. Some may be worth tasting in their own right.
• Read the label for origin. If you are buying pu'er from Yunnan, look for the region, mountain and year. Names like Xishuangbanna (西双版纳), Menghai (勐海) or a named village tell you far more than "pu'er" alone.
• Judge the cup, not the price tag. A raw tea from good leaf should brew a clear liquor, with sweetness and huigan (回甘) after the bitterness and astringency fade. Those signs matter wherever a tea is made.

Keep it in perspective

This was a single 5 kg lot. A specialty auction price shows what one buyer paid on one day. It is not a market price for Assam tea, or for pu'er. We have not tasted this tea, and the tasting notes above come from the people quoted. GB/T 22111-2008 is China's national standard; how the word "pu'er" can be used on labels in other countries depends on local rules.

If you'd like to taste raw pu'er from Yunnan's mountains side by side, start with our raw pu'er collection.

Sources: PTI, "Speciality Pu'er Tea Fetches Rs 12,000 Per Kg At Gauhati Tea Auction," ETV Bharat, September 26, 2026; "Assam-made Pu'er-style tea fetches Rs 12,000/kg at Guwahati auction," NE Now, September 26, 2026; "Assam's Homegrown Pu'er Tea Fetches Record Rs 12,000 Per Kilogram at GTAC," DY365, September 26, 2026; China Tea Society (中国茶叶学会), "什么是普洱茶?" (definition from GB/T 22111-2008), kepuchina.cn. Summary and plain-language interpretation by Chen Sheng Tea. Featured image: "Assam tea garden view" by Diganta Talukdar, CC BY-SA 4.0.