Assam TGFOP – Black Tea

Brew & Taste

As soon as you open the bag with this tea, you will be enveloped in a beautifully sweet, kind of vanilla-chocolate aroma. Assam is a strong tea. The infusion is dark mahogany in color and tastes pleasantly astringent, sweet, a little milky and vanilla-like.

Black tea is suitable for iced teas. Garnish with a slice of lemon and you'll never want to refresh yourself with another drink again.

Origins

The name Assam is given to teas that originate from the Indian region of the same name. Assam is located in the northeastern part of the country, south of the eastern Himalayas. It includes the valleys of the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers and covers an area of about 78,000km². After the Anglo-Burmese War of 1824-1826, Assam became a part of the British Indian Empire.

Chinese tea trees (Camellia sinensis) appeared in Assam around 1834. The British indicated that the soil around the rivers was very fertile and planted the first tea garden. After initial setbacks with Chinese hybrid varieties of tea plants, they switched to growing the local Assamica tea. During the late 19th century, the tea industry in Assam experienced a boom. In spite of this, the workers lived in very poor conditions, hence the situation later escalated into a major uprising.

An important geographical aspect of Assam is the interesting physiographic division into mountains, plains and plateaus. The climate is mild, with temperatures reaching 35-38°C in summer and 6-8°C in winter. Heavy monsoon downpours, morning chills and foggy nights are common.

Tea leaves are often harvested by hand, left to wilt and then spread out on large plates to ferment. The natural oxidation of enzymes at a constant temperature and precise humidity leads to the transformation of green tea into black. The next step is drying, after which the tea is sorted and packaged.

Tea packaging preview

We pack our teas in a strong, zip-lock aluminum packet which allows you to easily re-seal its contents. This container protects the quality of the tea against humidity, light or foreign odors, all of which could noticeably affect the quality of the brew.