Steep Stories

Tag: Assamica

  • Vietnamese Oolongs Made from Wild Assamica

    Vietnam has an unfortunate reputation in tea circles. Not entirely undeserved. Like countries such as Thailand, one of the ways they’ve tried to establish a tea growing/producing identity is by emulating the practices of others. Their greatest influences—naturally—are their neighbors. In this case, China and Taiwan. From China, they aped the style of Yunnan shou…

  • The Tea Balls of Manipur

    Earlier this year, a fellow tea blogger sent me information on an Indian tea growing region I’d never heard of. A place filled with old(er) growth, semi-wild assamica forests, which bordered Assam to the East. The state: Manipur. I knew nothing about this Indian state, other than the fact that it bordered Myanmar. That and…

  • In Search of the Tea Tree God

    Several months ago, I had a conversation with a fellow tea nerd about the origin of the tea tree. Y’know, small talk. During the dialogue, he uttered the following assertion that made my imagination boil over like an unrestrained kettle. No one had found the “god” tea tree, yet. Meaning: the tree from which all…

  • The “Heritage” of Assam

    I’ve covered Assam before, and the many tea gardens that lie within the Indian state. To date, though, I don’t think I’ve focused on tea factories in the region. So, this post will be something a little bit different. But let’s start at the beginning. World Tea Expo, 2014: it was my second such tradeshow.…

  • My First Tea Fest

    I hemmed and hawed for weeks about whether or not I would actually go to the Northwest Tea Festival this year. Thankfully, my poor impulse control got the better of me, and – boy! – am I glad it did. To miss this tea-binge-o’-thon would’ve been act of idiocy. I present to you – fine…