There isn't a single tea drinker on the planet who hasn't tried pure Assam tea. Perhaps you didn't realise the tea you were drinking was from Assam since the flavour was unfamiliar to you, or the components were simply labelled as black tea. However, Assam tea is a key component of many black tea blends on the market today. Sometimes it's referred to as Indian tea, and other times it's simply referred to as black tea. Assam tea is a full-bodied tea with a powerful flavour that is produced in the Indian state of Assam. It is India's most important tea-growing region, producing more than half of the country's total tea. Imagine tea bushes covering 304 thousand hectares of land.
Assam tea has a nearly two-hundred-year-old history. When the British decided to plant their own tea in India, they probably had no idea that Assam would become a massive tea-producing state. They began by bringing tea from China, only to discover that a wild plant was already thriving there, with enormous potential for further deployment. The tropical monsoon climate of Assam provides ideal growing conditions for tea.
What Makes Assam Tea Important?
1. Tea fields employ over a fifth of Assam's population. This is a big population whose sole source of income is tea production.
2. After China, Assam is the world's second-largest producer of tea. Assam sends a significant amount of its tea to countries including Russia, the United States, Australia, Iran, and many more.
3. Assam is home to the ingenious Camellia sinensis var. Assamica tea bush.
4. Assam's environment is ideal for tea production, and tea bushes cover about 304 thousand hectares of land.
5. Assam produces more than 500 million kg of tea every year, and barely 10 per cent is consumed inside.
6. Many morning tea mixes have Assam tea as the major ingredient.
How Is Assam Tea Special?
An Industry That Is 172-Year-Old
In the upper Brahmaputra Valley, Robert Bruce discovered tea plants growing wild in 1823. Soon after, the British had a significant interest in tea plantations in Assam, and the Assam Company was formed in 1839 to take over the East India Company's Administration's experimental ownership over the tea gardens that had been constructed in Assam up to that point.
The Breakfast Tea
Along with English Breakfast tea, it is frequently sold as breakfast tea. The tea's body is brisk, malty, and robust, with vivid colour, making it ideal for a morning cup. Assam tea's aroma and flavour pair well with a variety of breakfast foods from throughout the world, making it an ideal breakfast beverage.
CTC and Orthodox Tea
Assam tea is divided into two types: Orthodox and CTC. Orthodox tea is a higher-quality tea that is rolled entirely by hand to retain the aroma and flavour. CTC stands for crush, tear, and curl, which is how the product is made. Unlike traditional tea, the leaves are crushed, torn, and lastly curled and rolled into tiny pellets by a machine.
So these were the reasons that make Assam tea so unique and important.