Click here to bookmark this page.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Tea in India

Author: Bamboo Tea House
Original Source: Tea as a Way of Life - The History of Tea in India

The credit for creating India's vast tea empire goes to the British, who discovered tea in India and cultivated and consumed it in enormous quantities between the early 1800's and India's independence from Great Britain in 1947. The Scottish adventurer, Robert Bruce, discovered tea plants growing in Assam in the 1820's. At this time, no one thought that tea existed in India, however Major Bruce discovered the plants growing wild in the jungles controlled by the tribal chiefs.

In 1834, a British tea committee was appointed to investigate the possibility of cultivating tea in India. After a thorough investigation and study of the crop, the first commercial batch of tea ever produced outside of China came from Assam in 1839. The first contract for Indian teas between 500 and 1,000 chests was issued by London brokers at that time.

Two of India's major teas are the Darjeeling and the Assam. India's famed Darjeeling is named after the summer capital of the Government of Bengal, where tea is cultivated at altitudes of 4,000-10,000 feet in the Darjeeling hills. India's other major tea, Assam is named for the district in which it is grown, which lies in northeast India along the border between India and Burma. This region produced more black tea than any other area in the world, with the exception of some parts of China. Assam tea which is strong, dark and rich is a component of many standard blends, including Irish Breakfast.

No comments: