Naturz Brew Assam Black Tea
Assam Black Tea
Assam tea is black tea made in the Assam region in India. Until recently, Assam was producing almost only mass market black tea. Despite its popularity and wide availability, Assam is a relatively new tea. Tea production in India started only about 200 years ago.
What makes Assam tea different from other black types of tea is:
Assam tea is made from Camellia Sinensis Var Assamica, a plant native to Assam
Unique terroir
Processing methods
This region produced about 50% of the total Indian tea, making it the largest tea industry in India and the biggest tea growing region in the world. It has about 50,000 tea producers that make almost 49,000 thousands kilogram of tea per year. Some of them are a bigger plantations that produce mass market teas, while others are small tea gardens focused on artisan and speciality tea. Small gardens are the reason why today, Assam tea is getting much more appreciation and respect. Until recently, most of the tea from Assam was used in blends, usually in tea bags.
With the popularity of loose leaf tea, Assam got a chance to show the full beauty and versatility of its native tea plant. Today, it’s possible to buy amazing white, oolong or green tea made in this region too, often high prized and unique. But most importantly, a black tea got a chance it deserved.
Assam tea is usually described as full bodied and strong with a malty flavour. Full bodied means that tea is rich and complex and is most often related to black tea. Assam tea is a common ingredient in tea blends, used to give a stronger base and depth. The flavour can range from brisk, smokey, earthy, musky and strong to a lighter cup with chocolate, cocoa, or even sweet and spicy notes.
Assam black tea is usually considered having the high caffeine content out of all black types of tea. However, not all Assam tea will have a lot of caffeine. Caffeine levels will depend on the type of plant, type of tea leaves, grade, harvesting time and brewing method. Broken Assam dust in tea bags may have more than double the amount of caffeine than loose leaf tea. Assam’s strong flavour and caffeine content is the reason why it’s a popular choice for breakfast teas.