Assam tea gardem photo by Kaushik
The words “Indian Tea” usually refer to teas made from the leaves of the tea plant Camellia sinensis var. assamic. This is because the plant originated in Assam, India.
Unlike the Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, which grows as a bush, the assamica variety is a tree growing from twenty to sixty feet tall. The have a shorter life span than their var. sinensis cousins, living about forty years as opposed to the 100 years that can be expected of the var. sinensis. They make up for this by having larger, broader leaves that produce tea with a richer, stronger flavor than most of the Chinese variety.
There are five recognized subvarieties of the assamica variety: tender light-leaved Assam, dark-leaved Assam which is less tender, hardy Manipuri and Burma, and the very large-leaved Lushai that grows in the hills between India and Burma.
But not all teas that come from India are of the assamica variety. Darjeeling grows in the foothills of the Himalayas in West Bengal, India, but it comes from the sinensis variety. The climate and the soil in which it is cultivated give it a unique flavor reminiscent of a muscatel grape.
Though the Camellia sinensis var. assamica has been used to make some green and oolong teas, it is primarily used to make black tea. Some of these black teas are Assam, Munnar, and Nilgiri
For more info:
Quidk Fax: 10 thngs to know about Indian tea
Chai and how to make it
A chai recipe
A review of an Assam tea