In Assam for the summer flush

It’s that time of the year – summer flush or tea’s second harvest.

Our procurement team was in Assam last week for the summer flush and here’s what Gopal Upadhayay writes about it,

“It was the beginning of the harvest season and we wanted to visit the tea gardens in Assam to taste and buy teas. We reached Dibrugarh, one of Assam’s tea districts. The rains had already arrived; they are early this year. But it has been raining in Darjeeling too, and Assam is just over the hills, on the other side. Despite the proximity, there are so many differences, and not just in the teas that are produced in these two regions. Assam is a large state and tea is a major business here. The bulk of India’s tea production comes from Assam. The bulk of the world’s breakfast teas are made with Assam’s teas. And it’s here that the original Indian tea (Camellia sinensis assamica) grows.

We visited the estates of Chubwa, Balijan Hoogrijan, Zaloni, Rajgarh, Halmari, Basmatia and Mankota. Unlike Darjeeling, these estates are more mechanized; compared with Darjeeling, Assam is vast and its estates are widespread. The name Chubwa comes from Chah Bowa, Assamese for ‘tea planting’. It’s probably the first tea plantation in Upper Assam but now as famous for its state-of-the-art hospital that is run by the Tatas, Chubwa’s parent company.

In Balijan, we met Manisha Singh, a young woman working there as a field assistant. This is quite unusual in a male-dominated industry, and we spent some time chatting with her. Equal opportunity and a harmonious relationship between managers and staff are emphasized and working conditions are progressive. We heard about the friendly cricket and football matches that are often played here. All this was heartening to see and hear.

Halmari was an estate we were looking forward to, having heard much about its manufacturing facilities. It didn’t disappoint; the facility was spic and span; the emphasis is on high quality. They go so far as to use only bamboo buckets to collect the tea leaves, to minimize damage to raw leaves.

Assams political instability has always been an issue when one travels here but its certainly better than it used to be. We traveled within the state easily and the people were absolutely helpful and friendly. In the tea gardens, our hosts were humble, helpful and accessible. At Rajgarh, we got to taste some of the local cuisine and the Japonica rice thats served on bamboo leaf is some of the best we’ve tasted. It’s so fragrant and tasty, I would happily eat it plain! Basmatia is an estate named for the famed Basmati rice that used to grow here. It’s now famous for its golden tippy tea, Assam’s summer specialty, and the one that breakfast tea lovers world over look forward to.

Theres much to see in Assam and its tea gardens carry a long and interesting history. We hope to bring more stories from there. In the meantime, do keep an eye out for the new teas from Assam’s summer harvest that will be on Teabox very soon.”

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