In India, the Kulhad (terracotta cup) isn’t just a cup, it’s a centuries-old ritual compressed into unglazed clay. The weight of something handmade in your palms, the earthy warmth seeping into your tea, the quiet generosity of a vessel that gives everything and asks nothing in return.

MITTEA was born as an attempt to preserve and glocalise this ancient Indian ritual and integrate it into the urban landscape of London. Mittea, a wordplay on ‘Mitti, the Devanagari for earth or soil, anchored the entire brand in its material origin. If the name carried the tradition, everything else could carry the modernity.

What followed was a minimalist-maximalist identity built to speak two languages simultaneously. Clean, functional layouts did the structural work of a contemporary urban brand, while rich cultural textures, earthy palettes drawn from soil and fired clay, and chunky typography balanced organic warmth with urban precision. Each element was a deliberate translation of something tactile into something visible, making the porosity and warmth of terracotta legible to a world that experiences everything through a screen. Nowhere is this more alive than in the packaging itself.

Each design reminisces and cherishes a nostalgic moment, leveraging the cultural and communal feeling associated with tea for both Indian and British audiences, offering a glimpse into the rituals of tea consumption in India while presenting premium flavours for the London palate. The result is a brand that communicates at two speeds, instantly readable to a London consumer passing by, richly layered for anyone who stops to look closer. Not a dilution of heritage. An expansion of it.

Designer : Aishwarya Vinod

Location : London, United Kingdom

Project : MITTEA: Preserving and glocalising Indian tea traditions in the urban landscape of London

Client : MITTEA