The Captivating History of Indian Tea

India is among the top tea-consuming countries in the world and is the second-largest producer, after China, of its "offer" including the famous Assam and Darjeeling varieties. About 70% of the tea produced in India is consumed in the country.

How did Indian tea become so widespread and appreciated? Here is his story!

Due to the practice of Ayurveda, the Indians were familiar from antiquity with herbal infusions and spices, such as holy basil (Tulsi), cardamom, pepper, licorice, or mint. There is evidence that in the 16th century in India tea leaves were used in culinary preparations, along with garlic, oil, and vegetables. However, the development of the tea industry in India is due to the British, who rediscovered tea and began to cultivate and market it on a large scale.

The British realized that the soil in India and the environmental conditions are conducive to the cultivation of tea, so they kept trying to acclimatize seeds of the Chinese tea plant. The British East India Company wanted to eliminate China's monopoly on the tea trade.

In 1774, Warren Hastings, the Governor of Bengal, sent some Chinese tea seeds to his British emissary from Bhutan, George Bogle, to plant. At the same time, Colonel Robert Kyd also tried to grow Chinese tea seeds in the botanical garden he had founded in India, but without success.

In 1823, Scottish explorer Robert Bruce discovered a plant that grew in the Upper Brahmaputra Valley, Assam region, and was consumed as an infusion by the local Singhpho tribe, which tasted similar to Chinese tea.

Although Robert Bruce died before the plant was classified, his brother continued his work and in 1834 sent samples of the plant to the Calcutta Botanical Garden. It was discovered that it is a variety of Chinese tea plants (Camellia sinensis var Sinensis), which they named Camellia sinensis var Assamica. Three years later, the British developed India's first commercial tea plantation in Chabua, Upper Assam, laying the foundations of the Indian tea industry.

However, Chinese tea plants have also been acclimatized in India, but the Darjeeling and Kangra regions. The tea plantations in Darjeeling were officially born in 1841, at the initiative of Archibald Campbell, superintendent in the area. Many others began to experiment with the cultivation of Chinese seeds, and the commercial development of plantations began here in the 1850s.

The excellent results of tea cultivation in Assam and Darjeeling inspired other entrepreneurs to set up tea plantations at the foot of the Himalayas and other parts of India, including Kumaon, Dehra Dun, Garhwal, Kangra Valley, and Kulu in the north (until 1863), 78 plantations had been created) and Nilgiri in the south (in 1832, at the initiative of Dr. Christie). More about the teas grown in these areas can be found here.

When the British left India in 1947, the tea industry did not collapse, but continued to thrive and expand, with some of the plantations being taken over by local entrepreneurs.

Tea consumption in India has evolved in various forms, with almost every region having its variant of chai. The passion for spices of the Indians gave birth to Masala Chai, the spicy black tea (masala means "mixture of spices") enjoyed today around the globe!

Masala Chai is a delicious Indian drink, popular especially in South Asia, which combines black tea leaves, spices, milk, and sugar. Masala means "mixture of spices", and chai is the generic term for "tea".

As the name suggests, this Indian tea is distinguished by its spicy aroma, usually coming from the mix of cardamom, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, anise, black pepper, cinnamon. But this tea is very versatile, so you can test various combinations of spices or different proportions of ingredients, thus adapting it to your own preferences. We offer you a tasty recipe for Masala tea that is also very easy to prepare.