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Assam teas are grown in low-lying plains in the delta of the Brahmaputra River in India where the climate is damp and tropical. Darjeeling teas are grown high in the foothills of the Himalayas, which is a much cooler, shady environment. Assam teas are full-bodied, malty, and thick. If you make a cup of Assam tea strong enough, you can almost stand a spoon up in it. India produces an incredible range of teas, and comparing the teas of Assam to the teas of Darjeeling illustrates this perfectly.
An Assam tea estate along the upper Brahmaputra River valley
Assam is by far the largest tea producing region in the world (30,285 sq. miles). Darjeeling is tiny (1,216 sq. miles).
In the cup, Assam teas tend to be thick and straight-forward, while Darjeelings tend to be delicate and nuanced. Assam tea liquor is deep dark red. Darjeelings are pale amber.
Assam teas stand up to other ingredients marvelously well like milk, sugar, and spices. This why they are often used as the base in chai recipes. Darjeeling teas, on the other hand, can be overpowered by a strong breeze.
Breakfast Assam is the base for TeaSource Chai
Assams are a working class kind of tea. Darjeelings are kind of hoity toity.
Drinking Assam in London.
Drinking Darjeeling in London.
Assam teas are mostly CTC (cut tear curl) teas, meaning that most Assam teas are processed to a large extent by machine. Darjeeling teas are mostly orthodox (handmade) production.
A roto-vane machine for production of CTC tea, common in Assam (Photo courtesy of T & I Global)
The tea plant native to the Assam region of India is called Camellia sinensis var. assamica. The leaves are broad and large. The Chinese variety, Camellia sinensis sinensis, is grown in Darjeeling because of the cooler climate. The leaves are small and delicate. On a chemical level, Assam teas develop their characteristic flavor, aroma, and body due to an abundance of thearubigins in their chemical stew. Darjeelings have many more theaflavins in their chemical make-up.
The chemical make-up of thearubigins, which give Assam teas their deep, red color and strong body.
Assam teas can also be complex and nuanced and most of the Assam teas at TeaSource are hand-processed. Check out the Assam Hattiali Estate for a phenomenally complex and wonderful tea.
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Assam and Darjeeling teas are both fantastic. Both regions are incredibly beautiful with wonderful people.
A farmer’s market outside Guwahati, Assam
Take great joy in exploring the world of Indian tea and may your tea journeys someday take you to both of these fascinating regions.
Bill Waddington, founder
TeaSource
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There are two main varieties of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. The Chinese variety, Camellia sinensis sinensis, has a small leaf and is more tolerant of cold weather. The second variety, Camellia sinensis assamica, is native to the Assam region in India. It thrives in tropical areas and low elevation. The leaves are much larger than the Chinese variety. Interestingly, the tea plants grown in the Darjeeling region of India are the Chinese variety because of the high elevation and cooler temperatures.
Did you know that ALL types of tea from the six major categories (black, dark, oolong, yellow, green, & white) are made from the Camellia sinensis plant? The way the leaf is manipulated and processed determines the type of finished tea it becomes. There are literally thousands of teas that can be made from this one little plant!
Two leaves & bud, Camellia sinensis sinensis (Chinese variety). This is a small leaf cultivar.
Compare the Chinese variety to Camellia sinensis var. assamica (above), which has large, broad leaves. This plant is native to India.
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There are 3 official tea growing regions in India. Nilgiri is the least known of these (the other two are Assam and Darjeeling).
Nilgiri doesn’t get much respect, but teas from this region are some of our favorites.
Nilgiri teas are grown in the Blue Mountains, which are part of the Western Ghat mountain range which stretches across South India. They are some of the highest grown teas in the world, up to 8000’ elevation. And Nilgiri is one of the most beautiful tea regions in the world.
The rolling hills of Nilgiri (photo courtesy of the Coonoor Tea Trade Association).
Nilgiri teas are one of the great undiscovered gems of the tea world, and often one of the greatest bargains. They are known for being very aromatic and medium-bodied with a smooth, mellow taste and subtle, natural sweetness (almost fruitiness) to the cup. Nilgiri also makes some of the best iced teas in the world; they never turn bitter, they don’t cloud, and that natural sweet note comes out (especially when you make cold-brew iced tea).
Tea was first brought to Nilgiri in 1835 and has been commercially grown there since the 1850’s. Therefore, many of the established tea estates have that old British colonial look and feel to them.
The manager’s bungalow at the Glendale Tea Estate (photo courtesy of Glendale Teas).
The vast majority of tea from Nilgiri is machine processed (CTC production) and ends up in tea bags or being used in cheap blends. This is a major reason that Nilgiri teas as a category tend to be inexpensive. Approximately 20% of Nilgiri teas are mostly hand-processed (orthodox production) with wonderful aromas and flavors. When you can find those exceptional Nilgiri teas, they are usually still very reasonably priced.
We highly recommend the Nilgiri, Glendale Estate, SFTGFOP. It’s one of the most exceptional orthodox production Nilgiri teas we've have tasted in years.
The growing season in Nilgiri is unique, and in some ways closer to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) than other Indian tea regions. Teas are grown year round in Nilgiri and experience two monsoons each year (like Ceylon), which dramatically impacts the growing and production cycles. And all of this leads to the medium-bodied, mellow, sweet cup. Even the inexpensive Nilgiri teas are fabulous drinking all day teas.
The Organic Korakundah Estate, BOP black tea from Nilgiri is a lovely breakfast tea and a fabulous iced tea for a great bargain.
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The rest of South India also makes some fabulous teas, often overlooked. One of our favorite South Indian tea producers is the Iyerpadi Estate in the Anamalie Hills. Iyerpadi is one of the first organic tea producers in South India and they take this mission very seriously.
The Iyerpadi tea factory, surrounded by tea fields, which you can tell are older tea plants (probably at least 50 years old) because they are planted in clumps, not in straight rows (photo courtesy GS Haly).
Another unique feature of Nilgiri teas is that most of the teas are grown by independent small growers (sometimes with as little as one acre of tea bushes). When these leaves are plucked, they are sold to nearby independent tea factories/gardens which process the fresh leaves into finished tea. So the leaves tend to be harvested by the people who actually own the bushes (sometimes as cooperatives) as opposed to hired pluckers.
Tea fields just outside Coonoor, India, in the Nilgiri Hills (photo courtesy of Glendale Teas).
Check out our Niligiri Tea infographic here!
So if you’ve never ventured beyond English Breakfast or Earl Grey, try a Nilgiri tea. They are some of the most satisfying teas in the world...grown in some of the most beautiful country in the world.
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View from the Iyerpadi Tea Estate in the Anamalie Hills, South India (photo courtesy of GS Haly).
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Those familiar with TeaSource may know that my great grandfather started working in the Ceylon tea industry in the 1870’s carving tea plantations out of the wilderness. His name was Augustus Waddington.
But the Waddington family tree and connections with tea doesn’t end there. Augustus’ little brother, Henry Waddington, was across the Palk strait from Ceylon in southern India growing tea in the Nilgiri Mountains.
This map shows Sri Lanka, India, and the Palk Strait (map source).
I don’t know as much about Henry Waddington as I do Augustus, but apparently he was a force in the South Indian tea industry. The pre-eminent reference book on tea is William Ukers, All About Tea, a 568 page tome first published in 1934.
All About Tea is still used by tea professionals throughout the world today.
Henry Waddington first made my acquaintance more than 25 years ago when I was working my way through All About Tea. At the time I wasn’t even sure he was a relation. The name “Waddington” is not a unique name in the British Empire. About 18 years ago, I was able to confirm Augustus and Henry were brothers, and that Henry was my great, great uncle.
And as I said, William Ukers apparently knew of him. Below is the excerpt from page 143 in All About Tea.
Apparently Henry stayed in the tea industry for most of his life (unlike Augustus who left Ceylon and moved to Kansas after 10 years).
Out of the blue about 8 years ago, an employee came to me and said, “Bill, there are a couple of customers who would like to talk to you.” Being a good Minnesotan, I assumed I had done something wrong and they were there to complain.
Instead, they turned out to be regular customers who greeted me with smiles and handshakes and compliments about TeaSource. They were the ultimate Minnesota Snow Birds - spending summers in Minnesota (her birthplace) and winters in southern India, the Nilgiris (his birthplace). On their most recent stay in India in the city of Coimbatore (the center of the south Indian tea trade for the last 100 years), they had dinner at the Coimbatore Planter’s Club.
Above, the official history of the Coimbatore Club book.
(I have to digress here for a moment: when the British established tea plantations anywhere in the world, they would very quickly also establish “Planter’s Clubs” where the British owners and managers of the plantations could go to relax, drink, race, gamble, socialize, scandalize etc. Think Downton Abbey with a dash of Mar-a-Largo thrown in.)
These TeaSource customers, while walking down the hallway lined with all the historical information about the Coimbatore Club, ran across plaques showing all the past presidents of the Coimbatore Club going back to 1910. Lo and behold, there was H. Waddington, President from Sept. 1920 thru June 1921. They took pictures of the plaque to bring back and share with me.
So, this is the last piece of the Waddington--tea industry--Asia roots-- puzzle. At least I think it is the last piece.
But if anyone runs across another Waddington connection in the tea industry (my daughter working at Starbucks does not count), PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
Photo in the Coimbatore Club book. It is not unlikely Henry Waddington is in this picture.
Bill Waddington
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Most of you have probably heard the word “Darjeeling” in reference to tea, but what does that really mean?
Here are the top ten things we think you should know:
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- The Darjeeling District is a tiny region in West Bengal, India (apprx 228 sq miles). That is only half the size of Hennepin County, MN (where Minneapolis is).
- 87 tea gardens dot the slopes of the Himalayan Mountains in Darjeeling.
- Only tea that is grown in the Darjeeling district can be called “Darjeeling,” which is a legally protected geographical designation. Darjeeling teas have been nicknamed the “Champagne of Teas.”
- The Chinese variety of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis sinensis, grows in Darjeeling. It is better suited to the high altitude and cool temperatures than the indigenous Indian variety found in the Assam region, Camellia sinensis assamica.
- Robert Fortune, a spy for the British East India Company, smuggled the Chinese tea plant from China into India in 1851. Those same plants still grow there today over 150 years later.
- Tea from Darjeeling (primarily black tea) is made in the traditional orthodox method, which means it is hand-plucked and hand-processed.
- There are three distinct growing seasons in Darjeeling: first flush (spring), second flush (summer), and autumnal flush (fall). Each season produces teas with distinct flavor characteristics.
- The word Darjeeling means “Thunderbolt Place.”
- The demand for Darjeeling is high, but the annual production is low (11,000 tons) compared to other regions in India like Assam (680,000 tons). This means Darjeeling tea can fetch very high prices at auction.
- Teas produced in Darjeeling are the highest elevation grown teas in the world.
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Darjeelings are the highest elevation produced teas in the world. They are referred to as "The Champagne of Tea". For a tea to be called Darjeeling, it needs to come from the Darjeeling district, state of West Bengal, India. “Darjeeling Tea” is a legally protected geographical designation for teas grown and manufactured in this very specifically defined region “Darjeeling.”
