Assam is an Indian tea that begun in the 1840's, in 'Upper Assam'. Assam is the world's largest tea growing region, it is on the banks of the River Brahmaputra, which also borders onto Bangladesh and Burma.
During the monsoon period, this particular region can get up to 12 inches of rain per day, with the temperature rising to 40 °C! These conditions make the area almost like a greenhouse, which is perfect for growing tea. It also gives Assam an individually 'malty' taste which it is well known for.
Twinings' blend of Assam is individual, as you would expect.
The information that Twinings provides on their envelope talks about the Elephants that work on the Indian plains, helping with carrying and lifting.
When you drink Assam the bold flavour is smooth and clear, it truly tastes rich and full bodied - but it isn't strong like a tea that has been steeped for too long. The background taste could almost be described as woody, and mirrors the image of straw huts and a low sunset in the Indian sky.
When drinking this you could almost be there on a warm evening, sat on a terrace looking out over the desert seeing the Elephants pulling leaves from the trees. It is a truly calming flavour, almost amber tasting.
It isn't a too distant ancestor of our very own traditional tea, of any brand name. So if you want to try something different for the first time I would recommend this more than anything. It's not quite as far away from what everyone is used to as Darjeeling or Earl Grey, but it is slighting more adventurous.
The chances are you have been drinking some form of it most your life - or since you have been drinking tea.
I steeped this cup for 4 minutes and added a drop of milk - if you would prefer it weaker or stronger I would either take it down to 3 minutes or keep steeping for 5 minutes if you like a stronger taste.
Twinings Assam tea is available at most supermarkets for around £3.29 for 50 tea bags, but if you would just like to try one cup, you can buy a single envelope for £0.25 from the Twinings website here.
© Photography taken by and copyright to Elizabeth Mawson and 'Tea is Always a Good Idea'.
Hey! Being an Indian myself, I love how you blogged about the history of the tea and then the review of it. I'm loving every bit of your blog x. Make sure you visit India and taste the original tea x.
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DeleteHi, Twinings was one of my favorite tea brand until I gotta know that the company paying workers in India less than £2 a day with disregard for their health, using unprotected chemical sprays, and use of child labour. My family is basically from India, which is where this tea is produced. Twinings is always known for it's quality but underpaying my people isn't acceptable, also Tea originated from India ( & Asia), we always have substitutes. I'm neither coming for the brand nor Lizzy but just saying x.
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