Assam tea is a black tea grown in India with a malty flavor and ruby-amber hue. It is often used in breakfast teas and is harvested twice a year. The discovery of the Assam tea bush is credited to Robert Bruce, and the British started cultivating it in the 1830s. To make the perfect pot of tea, start with cold water and use 1 teaspoon of tea leaves per cup of hot water. Assam tea blends well with cream, milk, or lemon and can be sweetened with honey or sugar.
Assam tea (Camellia sinensis var. Assamica) is a black tea grown in Assam, India. With a distinctive malty flavor and bold, invigorating character, Assam tea is a particular favorite to use in breakfast teas. English breakfast tea and Irish breakfast tea are both types of tea that are often partially or completely made from Assam leaves. Assam tea has a beautiful ruby-amber hue.
The Assam bush grows in a lowland region, in the Brahmaputra river valley, an area of sandy nutrient-rich floodplain soil. The climate varies between a cold, dry winter and a hot, humid rainy season, ideal conditions for this. Due to its long growing season and abundant rainfall, Assam is one of the most prolific tea producing regions in the world. Each year, the tea estates of Assam collectively produce approximately 1.5 million pounds (680,400 kg) of tea.
Assam is generally harvested twice, in a ‘first flush’ and a ‘second flush’. The first flush is chosen at the end of March. The second color, collected later, is the more valuable “tippy tea,” so named for the golden tips that appear on the leaves. This second tippy tea is sweeter and fuller-bodied and is generally considered superior to the first tea. The leaves of the Assam bush are dark green and glossy and quite broad compared to those of the Chinese tea plant. The bush produces delicate white flowers.
The discovery of the Assam tea bush is credited to Robert Bruce, a Scottish adventurer, in 1823. Bruce reportedly discovered the plant growing wild in Assam while trading in the region. He noticed a local tribe making tea from the leaves of the bush and arranged with the tribal leaders to provide him with samples of the leaves and seeds, which he planned to examine scientifically. Robert Bruce died soon after, without having seen the properly classified plant.
It was not until the early 1830s that Robert’s brother Charles arranged for some leaves of the Assam bush to be sent to the Calcutta Botanical Gardens for proper examination. There, the plant was finally identified as a variety of tea, or Camellia sinensis, but different from the Chinese version (Camellia sinensis var. sinensis).
Soon after, the British started making inroads into tea cultivation in Assam. Originally, the tea seeds were imported from China, believed to be superior to the local wild variety. After a period, however, a hybrid version of the Chinese and Indian tea plant developed and proved to be most effective in climate and soil.
By the late 1830s, a market for the new Assam tea had established itself in London, and pioneering tea planters, including Charles Bruce, set about clearing the aquifers in the jungle and setting up their own large tea plantations. Today there are over six hundred tea estates, or gardens, producing tea in the Assam region.
To make the perfect pot of tea, start with cold water. Never use water that has already been boiled – the end result will be a lifeless, flat tasting tea. If you use tap water, let it run for a few seconds before filling the kettle. Bring the water to a boil. While the water is heating, fill a ceramic or porcelain teapot with hot tap water and let it sit for a few minutes to warm up the pot.
As soon as the water starts to boil, remove the kettle from the burner. Discard the hot water from the teapot and add the tea leaves to the empty teapot. For Assam tea, figure on 1 teaspoon (1 g) of tea leaves per cup (240 mL) of hot water. If you like, loosely place the leaves in a tea ball. Pour some boiled water over the tea leaves in the teapot. Let steep for 3 to 5 minutes and pour through a strainer, for loose leaf tea, into individual cups.
Assam tea is full bodied and blends well with cream, milk or lemon. If a sweetener is desired, honey or sugar can be added before adding the milk. Stir until dissolved.
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