Almost every brand is offering luxury tea boxes or hampers for gifting, with a clear focus on wellness and well-being. Here’s a selection to sip on.
No.3 Clive Road
Radhika Chopra’s Delhi-based brand, which gets its name from the address of her family home, combines nostalgia with luxury, offering a range of blends and single teas in beautiful boxes that hold 100g. The blends get their names from their inspiration: Jaipur, Jodhpur, Malabar, Madurai. Also available are themed blends, like the Mughal-inspired Aurangzeb blend of Assam black tea with spices and flowers and the Artist’s blend inspired by Kochi’s art heritage. Besides the single boxes, the brand offers the option of creating your own gift box, In Celebration, in a sophisticated burgundy box that can hold two teas of choice, a bottle each of wildflower honey and spiced mango chutney, a Camellia scented candle, and, depending on your choice, either the brand’s Teatime Taash set of playing cards or a set of chai glasses or kulhars. The box can be customised completely too. There is also a Wellness Journey box with four teas: a green tea, a green tea blend, an Ayurvedic blend and a black tea blend.
Available at Threecliveroad.com
Prices, ₹1,450-2,850
Radhikas Fine Teas and Whatnots
Delhi-based Radhika Batra Shah curates certified organic teas from the gardens of Sivitar (Darjeeling) and Jamguri (Assam) and creates custom blends. In her gift range, the Holiday series, for people getting acquainted with the world of tea, includes blends that brew well hot or cold. The Crafted Collection is for connoisseurs, with straight teas and two blends, kahwa and mukhwas. Shah also offers custom hampers in 50g or 100g packs of an assortment of teas. And in wellness there’s the Organic Healing Chais of India, with a set of five blends. Don’t miss her accessory collection, which includes gorgeous Yixing pottery, from gaiwans to gong-fu sets and dumpling cups. You can even gift online tea appreciation classes run by Shah.
Available at Radhikasfineteas.com
Prices, ₹850-1,850, for gift boxes
Karma Kettle
Kolkata-based Karma Kettle offers colourful, vibrant blends inspired by locations, perfect gifts for a tea lover with wanderlust or the armchair traveller. Travels in a Teacup has three teas: Istanbul (Turkish apple tea with rose and berries), Marrakech (a Moroccan Mint tea) and Seville (Oolong with orange and warm spices). Don’t miss the tribute to their home town: Memories of Kolkata, a gift of four teas, lebu cha, gur cha, paan cha and ada cha. In wellness, they offer the Ancient Healing Collection, with three green tea blends.
Available at Karmakettle.com
Prices start at ₹510, with Memories of Kolkata at ₹1,500
The Kettlery
The Kettlery has a small selection of gifts. Of note is the Gentleman’s Tea set, which has a mix of classic teas from Darjeeling, Assam and the Nilgiris, along with a tea brewer and an iced tea glass. For a fun experience, try their Mocktail Tea Gift set, which comes with two tisanes, an iced tea infuser bottle and a helpful recipe book. In wellness, there’s the Herbal Bliss gift box that comes with three tisanes (lemongrass, chamomile, peppermint) and tins to store them, along with a cup.
Available at thekettlery.in
The Mocktail Tea Gift is priced at ₹3,000
San-cha Tea Boutique
This boutique tea brand offers a mix of straight teas and blends made with natural ingredients, a balance of popular and exotic teas. Their Maison Du Thé gift range, for the wellness seeker, is a set of three teas designed around the theme of immunity, stress relief and calm. The Grand Indulgence collection is a set of four teas with an infuser. There’s a choice on offer here, of green and white teas, or a white tea, saffron chai, an Assam malty black tea and a Darjeeling. Do take a look at their tea collection too, for they stock some Fujian jasmine pearls, Tie Guan Yin oolong, lapsang souchong and ceremonial grade matcha—great gifts for the tea adventurer.
Available at Sanchatea.com or their stores in metros
Prices start from ₹1,325 for the Maison Du Thé range and ₹1,100 for Time for Tea
TGL Co.
An acronym for The Good Life, this Mumbai-based firm offers great-looking tea gifts. Decadent Desires is a set of six teas, from tisanes and rooibos to gunpowder green. A ball infuser is part of the gift. Their Contemporary Classics gift is a wooden tea chest with nine tins of teas, ranging from Chinese silver needle to an oolong blend and chamomile. Do take a look at their range, which includes a selection of teas and tea blends, from popular ones like English Breakfast, Kashmiri kahwa and Masala Chai to the more exotic gunpowder green, Chinese silver needles and ceremonial grade matcha. In wellness, they offer green tea blends and tisanes, which are also included in the gift boxes mentioned above.
Available at Tglcompany.com
Prices start from ₹999. Decadent Desires is for ₹3,499 and Contemporary Classics, for ₹5,099
CELES TÉ
This Delhi-based brand, born during the pandemic, has been launched by Anubha Jhawar, daughter of a tea master. Trained as a tea sommelier and blender, she offers a range of blends made with teas sourced from across India. The brand also offers tea in “brew pockets”, loose-leaf tea in bags made from natural material. The Grey Gift Box is a customisable gift of two teas, with the option of a handwritten note to go with it. Other gift boxes come with a mix of teas and accessories and can be customised. The curation of the gift boxes named Love, Zest and Serenity keeps in mind the feelings they are supposed to evoke. For example, the Serenity box has three teas that induce a sense of calm and well-being: Gold Rush, chamomile-based green tea, Mind Body Soul, detox tea, and Free Spirit, a white tea blend with lavender and mint. The box is a brew kit in itself, all you need is a cup and hot water. The handmade brass tea basket strainer can be used for both a cup and a teapot. Its double handles rest gently on the rim and can be used to brew or strain loose-leaf tea.
Available at Celes-te.com
Prices start from ₹1,397 for the Grey Gift Box. Desire is for ₹3,599.
Tea Nanny is a fortnightly series steeped in the world of tea. Aravinda Anantharaman is a Bengaluru-based tea blogger and writer who reports on the tea industry. @AravindaAnanth1
