Understanding Our Tea
Kamalpur produces CTC teas across the full range of commercial grades, from Brokens to Fannings and Dust. Each grade comes from the same harvest and the same manufacturing process, and each serves a different brewing need.
Annual production is derived from a balance of leaf sourced directly from our estate and carefully selected leaf supplied by surrounding growers. All tea passes through the same factory systems and rigorous quality checks, ensuring consistency across every batch.
For buyers, the distinction between grades, more than quality, is about how the tea is used, brewed, and experienced in the cup.
A Natural Sweetness in the Cup
One of the defining traits of Kamalpur tea is a gentle underlying sweetness that develops during manufacture.
The Terai region produces a leaf that balances strength with a soft finish, allowing blends to hold the body without becoming overly harsh. This quality is especially valued in markets that require both colour and drinkability across multiple brews.
Across grades, this sweetness appears differently, sometimes as brightness, sometimes as depth, a consistent feature of the estate’s teas.
Choosing the Right Grade for Every Brew
At Kamalpur, every batch of tea is carefully sorted by particle size to suit different brewing needs. Larger grades release flavour more slowly for a smoother cup, while smaller grades infuse quickly to deliver a stronger, fuller liquor. This flexibility allows our teas to meet a wide range of market preferences, brewing styles, and blending requirements.
The table below details the CTC grades we produce and how they’re typically used.
Grade Category | Grade | Particle Size | Brewing Speed | Cup Character | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brokens | BOP | Larger pellets | Slower | Bright liquor, lighter body, more aroma | Retail blends, flavour-led teas |
Brokens | BOPSM | Medium - Large | Moderate | Balanced strength and aroma | Blends requiring clarity and structure |
Brokens | BP | Medium | Moderate | Balanced cup with steady colour | Multi-purpose blending |
Fannings | OF | Smaller grains | Faster | Fuller cup with good colour | Stronger everyday blends |
Fannings | PF | Small grains | Faster | More strength, reduced aroma | Density in blends |
Dust | PD | Very fine | Very fast | Strong liquor, deep colour | Tea bags, catering, stall use |
Dust | DUST | Finest particles | Extremely fast | Very strong and dark cup | Tea bags, high-yield brewing |
How these Grades Compare
Across both liquor strength/colour and flavour presence, the grades follow the same progression —
BOP → BOPSM → BP → OF → PF → PD → DUST
moving from the lightest and most aromatic to the strongest and most densely extracted.
What these Grades Mean
All CTC grades come from the same leaf, two leaves and a bud, and move through the same manufacturing process. Grading is done purely to match market requirements.
In practice, the right grade depends on application:
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Tea stall vendors often prefer Dust or Fannings for faster brewing and higher cup yield.
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Retail consumers may lean toward Brokens for a more aromatic, balanced cup.
Quality remains consistent across grades. Selecting the right grade depends on how the tea is intended to be used.
Tea Through the Seasons
Kamalpur produces tea across several seasonal cycles, each with its own character.
Availability and volumes vary slightly each year depending on weather and field conditions.
Early Spring (First Flush)
Fresh leaf with lighter body and brightness, yielding a clean golden brew with an aromatic, lively mouthfeel and pronounced briskness.
Summer (Second Flush)
Stronger structure with fuller flavour, producing a reddish-amber to copper liquor with a fuller profile and heavier mouthfeel.
Monsoon Production
Higher yield period producing teas suited for colour and strength, with a more straightforward flavour and flatter top note compared to other flushes.
Autumn Production
Balanced teas as the season transitions, offering a full-bodied, mellow cup with smooth, warm, and robust notes and a softer bite than the First Flush.
Winter Character
Towards the end of the production cycle, the leaf develops a distinct winter profile valued for its deeper body and stable liquor, offering an intensely aromatic, bright, and delicate cup with fruity floral notes and a rounded, welcoming mouthfeel.
