Give it a chai? Rare teas are making inroads as tasting shots, tiny batches

At Teabox, an online marketplace for tea sellers, a single-estate oolong from Arunachal Pradesh is among 250 teas on offer. The site offers information on how Private Reserve Donyi Polo looks and tastes and how to brew it and how many cups it will make. You could try a 4-cup sample for as little as Rs 99. Gopal Upadhyay, head of the procurement team, knows that there is interest in tea but many people need a little handholding to understand new varieties. His site offers a “small, fun” questionnaire. “We ask questions like what is your favourite fruit, and suggest you a tea based on your answers,” he says.