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| Type: | Black, Green, White |
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| Other names: | NA |
| Origin: | Assam, India |
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| Quick description: | Brisk and malty with a bright color and a touch of fruitiness. |
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Assam is a black tea named after the region of its production: Assam, India. Assam tea is manufactured specifically from the plant Camellia sinensis var. assamica (Masters).[1][2] This tea, most of which is grown at or near sea level, is known for its body, briskness, malty flavor, and strong, bright color. Assam teas, or blends containing Assam, are often sold as "breakfast" teas. English Breakfast tea, Irish Breakfast tea, and Scottish Breakfast Tea are common generic names.
Though "Assam" generally denotes the distinctive black teas from Assam, the region produces relatively smaller quantities of green and white teas as well with their own distinctive characteristics.
Historically, Assam is the second commercial tea production region after southern China. Southern China and Assam are the only two regions in the world with native tea plants. Assam tea revolutionized tea drinking habits in the 19th century since the tea, produced from a different variety of the tea plant, yielded a different kind of tea.
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Geography
The tea plant (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) is grown in the lowlands of Assam, unlike Darjeelings and Nilgiris which are grown in the highlands.
History
The cradle of the tea plant is a region that encompasses the Assam state in northeastern India, the eastern and southern parts of China, and northern Myanmar. Spontaneous (wild) growth of the assamica variant is observed in an area ranging from the Indian state of Assam to the Chinese province Yunnan and the northern part of Myanmar.[3]
The earliest reference to tea drinking in India is found in the writings of a Dutch seafarer, who wrote of tea being both eaten and drunk in India in 1598.[4]
There exists a 10th century CE Sanskrit medical text from Assam called Nidana that mentions leaves called shamapatra from which shamapani is made. Historians[who?] are conflicted as to whether this is the first mention of tea in India.
Before the commercialization of tea began in Assam, the leaves of the tea plant were chewed by the local villagers with little or no processing. This continues in certain inaccessible regions of southeastern Assam, as well as in neighboring regions of Myanmar.
Beginning
Bodos (pronounced BO-ROs) were the earliest settlers of Assam.[citation needed] It is likely that Bodos may have brought tea and rice to Assam. However, Robert Bruce is said to have re-discovered the tea plant growing wild in the region. According to another account, the Assamese nobleman, Maniram Dewan, led Robert Bruce to the plant in 1823. Before his death in 1825, Robert passed on his knowledge to his brother Charles, who sent seeds of the plant to Calcutta in 1831. In 1833 the British lost the monopoly of the Tea trade with China and the Tea Committee dispatched the secretary George Gordon to China to study the methods and begin tea plantation in Assam. He returned with the Chinese variety and workers. Imported labor from Bihar and Orissa would later form a significant demographic group in Assam. It was found that the local variety of plant was more suited to the local climate. Crossing with the Chinese tea plant led to Indian hybrid tea, which has great variability and vigour. This has been called the most important evolution of the commercial tea plant.
On May 8, 1838 350 pounds (160 kg) of Assam tea were dispatched to London, and sold at India House, London on January 10, 1839. Drinkers were impressed with the tea, and the tea industry in Assam was born. Charles Bruce and others, including Maniram Dewan, began clearing the jungles and establishing tea estates.
On February 26, 1858 Maniram Dewan, the sole native tea planter, was hanged on charges of conspiracy and participation in the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 against the British on the basis of an intercepted letter.
Modern developments in the tea industry
Since the 19th century, most tea has been planted using the same techniques without seed selection. The industry continued to grow slowly but steadily during the 20th century. In the 1970s small scale tea cultivators with farms smaller than one hectare began growing tea. Cultivation on small farms increased during the 1990s and today accounts for over 10% of the tea produced in Assam. Tea cultivation remains a vital industry in the region employing 17% of the workforce.
Today, Assam produces more than half the tea grown in India. Assam is the leading tea producing state in India. On the international market, Assam Tea can be identified by the official logo chosen by the Tea Board of India. Most Assam tea is sold through the Auction Centre at Guwahati. Recently, India's tea industry has faced a crisis with prices dropping due to reduced exports and domestic consumption. However, Assam tea exports to the United States are expected to increase as more Americans are drinking tea and seeking tea of higher quality.
Kopili tea
Most Assam teas are grown at or near sea level. There is one notable exception, namely Kopili tea, which is raised at an elevation of 2500 ft (750 m). Kopili is the only tea estate in Assam located on the Himalayan foothills. All other Assam tea gardens are at a height of at most 150-200 ft (45-60 m) with some tea gardens in Assam being below sea level. The combination of the altitude with the surrounding evergreen rain forest, the rich soil, and the temperature make the teas of Kopili unique among Assam teas.
See also
Notes
- ^ Tea Classification from Tea Research Association, Toklai (retrieved 2009/03/25)
- ^ ITIS Standard Report Page for Camellia sinensis var. assamica retrieved on 2009-03-28.
- ^ T. Yamamoto, M Kim, L R Juneja (editors): Chemistry and Applications of Green Tea, CRC Press
- ^ The Cambridge World History of Food (Volume 1, 2000), pg 715-716
References
- Kiple, Kenneth F.; Ornelas, Kriemhild C. (October 2000). The Cambridge World History of Food (Volume 1). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521402166.
- Tea in North East India Ministry of Development
- Tea History Plant Cultures
- Tea Board of India (business information)
External links
- Tocklai Experimental Station The first tea research laboratory, established in 1911.
- Tea Planter's Life in Assam (1884) by George Barker, (from books.google.com)
- The cultivation & manufacture of tea (1883) by Edward Money, (from archive.org)
- The Tea soils of Assam and tea manuring (1901) by Harold H Mann, (from archive.org)
- Tea Producing Companies of India and Ceylon, Showing the History (1897), (from archive.org)
- The pests and blights of the tea plant; being a report of investigations conducted in Assam and to some extent also in Kangra (1898) by George Watt, (from archive.org)
- The tea industry (1921) by J C Kydd, (from archive.org)
- The Recollections of a Tea Planter (1937) by W M Fraser, (from www.koi-hai.com)
- Assam Planter (1945) by A R Ramsden, (from www.koi-hai.com)
- Assam Tea Exchange
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