Assam Tea

Origin - Assam Valley near the Brahmaputra River. The Assam Valley is the largest tea growing area in the world with over 600 tea estates.
Taste Features - Rich, strong and full-bodied with a distinctive malty taste.
Serving Suggestions - Best served with milk. The ideal breakfast tea.

Savour the Flavour of Assam with the Assam Tea
Assam in India is located in northeastern part of India. Assam - the home of the tiger and the one-horned rhino is the world’s single largest tea-growing region, producing more than 1,500,000 pounds of tea yearly. This land of wide spread tea gardens and tea estates, produces some absolutely stunning, high quality (and very expensive) teas. The tea of Assam is mostly of commercial grade. The Exclusive Assam Tea
The quality of Assam tea is excellent. Assam, as with Darjeeling, has a first flush and a second flush tea. The first flush has a rich and refreshing aroma; the second flush produces the famous "tippy teas." It is this feature of the teas of the second flush which makes them more preferred. (Tippy refers to black tea with gold tips or what appears to be golden-coloured leaf). The amount of tip varies, depending upon where in Assam the tea estate from which the tea comes is located. Additionally, not all tea estates have the ability or capacity to generate "tippy teas."

The golden tip present in Assam tea, tends to lessen the bitter characteristic of the tea and make it sweet and smooth. Therefore, Assam tea can be malty, sweet and smooth, which are qualities enjoyed by all tea drinkers.

The Production
Assam is a full bodied tea with good malty flavour, which is good all day. The Assam valley in Indian is dominated by the Brahmaputra River - a large slowly meandering river which over millennia of spring and fall flooding has deposited a rich loam over the valley. The soil is a deep and sandy and the region suffers a very hot and steamy monsoon season, but equally important a relatively dry and cool winter. Perfect conditions for the Assam tea bush.

The production of black tea, of which Assam is only one, can be divided into two categories :
(1) Orthodox
(2) CTC (Crush, Tear and Curl).

The Orthodox Tea
Tea produced using the Orthodox method is valued most by the international market. About 80% of the Assams I feature are produced using this Orthodox method. The remainder is tea I use in blends.

The CTC Tea
CTC teas are, for the most part, consumed in the India domestic market primarily because making tea in the India method is done by boiling leaves in a mixture of milk, water and sugar and some spices (producing a Chai or Masala) and the CTC teas produce a rich red color when they are boiled, thus adding a beautiful color which comes through the white of the milk but yet does not produce a bitterness (in that preparation).