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| Abhijit Baruah, B. Sc 4th Sem, Botany Major |
Tea was first
cultivated in china. Now-a-days along with china, India and Srilanka are also
two large producers. In India, Assam and Darjeeling are the best areas for tea
plantation.
Tea plants grow well on the slopes
of the hills where there is much rainfall as well as sunshine. It requires 70⁰F
to 80⁰F. Water should not be logged at the
roots. The tea plant grows best on the sloping hill-sides.
Tea leaves are
plucked from the plants about four times a year in April, May, June and August.
There are
different qualities of tea. The buds and young leaves make the best kind of tea.
The larger and older leaves do not make good tea.
Assam tea is a black tea named after
the region of its production. Assam tea is manufactured specially from the
plant Camellia sinensis var. assamica. This tea most of which is
grown at or sea level is known for its briskness, malty flavor, and strong,
bright colour.
The state of Assam
is the world’s largest tea growing region, lying on either side of the
Brahmaputra River, and bordering Bangladesh and Myanmar. This part of India experiences high
precipitation during the monsoon period as much as 10 to 12 inch of rain per
day.
Historically Assam
has been the second commercial tea production region after Southern China. Southern
China and Assam are the only two regions in the world with native tea plants.
The gardens in Assam
do not follow the Indian standard time which is the time observed throughout India
and Srilanka. The local time in Assam tea garden known as “Tea Garden Time” or
Bagantime. Working time for laborers in the gardens is generally between 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. It may vary slightly from garden to garden.
The tea plant is grown in the
lowlands of Assam. The Assam tea bush grows in a lowland region, in the valley
of the Brahmaputra River. Each year the tea estates of Assam collectively yield
approximately 1,500 million pounds (680,400,000kg) of tea.
Assam tea is
generally harvested twice in a “first flush” and a “second flush”. The first
flush is picked during late march. The second flush, harvested later is the more prized “tippy tea”. This second flush
tippy tea is sweeter and is generally considered superior to the first flush
tea.
The leaves of the Assam tea bush are
dark green and glossy and fairly wide compared to those of the Chinese tea
plant.
