We’re passionate about making sure our tea leaves are 100% organic, which means no fertilisers, no pesticides and no nasty additives. We also take a sustainable approach to our farming, relying on natural processes like crop rotation and manures.
Paline
Organic Fermented Tea Leaves
Have you ever tried organic fermented tea (Laphet)? A traditional Burmese delicacy, our Paline tea is made with 100% organic fermented tea leaves, carefully picked and prepared in Myanmar.
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Always organic
Best served with...
Fermented tea leaves add a burst of flavour to a variety of dishes. Pile a plate high with crispy fried beans, peanuts, garlic, sesame seeds and dried shrimp or add to soups, omelettes and dumplings.
What is fermented tea?
Fermented tea leaves have a long and fascinating history in Myanmar, and were once used to settle court cases and even as a peace offering among warring kingdoms. Today, they remain a beloved delicacy for family dinners, ceremonies and social affairs, and are commonly offered to house guests as a sign of hospitality. The softened pickled leaves (‘lahpet’) picked in the southern Shan State are considered the very best.
Fermented tea traditions
Myanmar has its own inimitable tea culture. Here you’ll see tea shops and restaurants on every corner, where friends and families sit at low tables sharing bowls of lahpet thoke (tea leaf salad). Fermented tea leaves are completely unique to Myanmar, and are often shared for social occasions as a symbol of gift-giving and respect (‘Kadaw-Pwe’), where a bowl is filled with pickled tea, coconut, three green bananas, auspicious leaves and a tea leaf wrapped in betel leaf. For special occasions, ceremonies and when serving monks, pickled tea is steeped in oil and placed in a small pile on a plate.
Our farmers
We have a community of farmers and factory workers in Myanmar who carefully pick and prepare the leaves for our products. Their futures are important to us, so we work hard to provide organic training and seek a strong future for the organic tea market. Helvetas Myanmar is a contribution to the certification body.
The making of our tea
Trace the fascinating journey of our tea, all the way from farm to fork
THE PROCESS
Hand picked
On the plantations our farmers carefully pick the finest leaves for our tea.
Preperation
The leaves are checked for their quality, then sorted and washed ready for fermentation.
Fermentation
Over two to six months, the leaves are fermented to develop their unique earthy flavour.
Packaging
Our teams package the finished products, ready to share with the world.
Organic labels
Look out for these labels and you know you’re tasting 100% organic
