Every fine tea has its unique cultural identity!

The Singpho and Naga tribes have a unique tradition of preparing and drinking a special tea wrapped in bamboo, called Singpho Phalap tea.

Tea is definitely not just a simple beverage in a tea pouch. Tea has been cultivated by humans for at least 5000 years. From its birthplace China, tea has spread all over the world. Each culture, region, collective and tribe around the globe has shaped their connection to this wonderful, refreshing, and uplifting beverage. Many cultures have created ceremonies around tea drinking. All over the world, sharing tea together is an act of respect, hospitality, and tranquility.

The Singpho tribe, living in regions of Northeast India, Myanmar, and China, has been brewing tea for centuries, potentially dating back to the 12th century.

Someone has estimated that there exist several thousand tea cultivars (or varieties) worldwide. Today, tea is grown commercially and produced in around 60 countries in the world. Each tea type falls into one of the six main categories: white, yellow, green, oolong, black, and post-fermented (dark tea). The number of fine teas with the potential to express a cultural heritage is huge. 

The tea world also keeps on evolving and renews itself with each generation. New tea countries come into fruition, and the traditional ones reinvent themselves. Thousand-year-old traditions blend with the modern lifestyle and habits. That’s what makes the world of tea so fascinating. You can always learn about new teas, and you also enrich your life with wonderful stories from indigenous people and learn how they enjoy their favorite tea. 

The Singphos tribes originally migrated from Mongolia around 700-800BC and then entered the south-west of Tibet around 600-300BC. Later the tribes were settling down in the Singpho Valley (North East India) and Brahmaputra Valley (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan). Read more about this Bamboo Smoked tea here.

One very interesting tea with a long history deeply intertwined with its people is Singpho Phalap Tea (Bamboo Smoked Tea). For the Singpho community, tea plays an important role and is considered a healthy medicinal drink. This rare and traditional tea is packed into bamboo tubes, smoked, and post-fermented for several years. The production process begins after plucking with the withering of the local Assam variety (Camellia sinensis var. assamica), followed by pan-frying the leaves to "kill green" (prevent enzymatic browning, also called oxidation). The leaves are then dried over a fire or in the sun. Thereafter, they are stuffed very tightly into bamboo tubes and hung over a fire. The post-fermentation process occurs during the aging period when the tea is stored in a smoky environment over a fireplace, resulting in unique smoky, sweet, and fruity flavors that reveal themselves over several successive steepings.

Earth element teas help balance the metal energy of your lungs and large intestine.

Singpho Phalap tea is, as mentioned, a post-fermented tea that develops with proper aging. These teas are also referred to as dark teas, and they belong, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), to the earth element. As such, these teas are especially good to enjoy in early autumn, where we are right now in the Northern Hemisphere. Earth element tea helps nourish our lungs and large intestines and prepare them for the cold weather that awaits in winter. This is what Wild Tea Qi (read the full info on their website) say about earth element teas: "In autumn, the temperatures are "falling” and the air gets dry, clear and cooler. This season can weaken our lungs and large intestine. Drinking Earth element teas to keep the lungs and large intestine strong is therefore a good advice".

If you want to purchase high quality Earth element teas you can buy them here or contact me and I'll be happy to guide you. Welcome to follow and contact me!

The metal element relates to the autumn and to support this element it needs some earth element to flow with ease.